Democrats introduce bill, set hearing on crypto energy use

The legislation would require EPA to investigate crypto mining's environmental impacts.

Democratic lawmakers are moving ahead with their crackdown on crypto mining's toll on energy resources and the environment with a first-ever Senate hearing on the issue on Tuesday.

Members of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate and Nuclear Safety will question experts and review legislation from Chair Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) that takes aim at the energy-intensive and highly polluting crypto mining industry.

The "Crypto-Asset Environmental Transparency Act," reintroduced Friday, would require crypto mining companies to report their emissions for operations that consume more than 5 megawatts of electricity. It would also require EPA to investigate the industry’s environmental impacts.

“The crypto industry is growing, and so is a plume of pollution around their mining facilities,” Markey said in a statement Friday.

"While we’re working together as a nation to face down an existential crisis that puts the health and safety of our people and our planet in jeopardy, crypto miners are sucking megawatt after megawatt from our public grids and emitting skyrocketing greenhouse gasses, just so they can make a buck for themselves. We can’t afford to let this industry run roughshod over our communities any longer."

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“As we look to slow the effects of climate change, it makes no sense to continue ignoring cryptomining’s skyrocketing energy demands and planet-polluting emissions,” Huffman said in a statement.

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By:  Andres Picon
Source: E&E Daily

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