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US legislators renew call for EPA investigation of crypto mining emissions data

March 4, 2023No Comments


US Senator Edward Markey and Representative Jared Huffman announced on March 3 that they would reintroduce the Crypto Asset Environmental Transparency Act in Congress. The move comes ahead of a Senate hearing on the environmental impact of crypto mining, which Markey will chair on March 7.

Markey and Huffman first introduced the bill in Decemberin the previous Congress. Senator Jeff Merkley served as co-sponsor in the Senate.

The bill would be require Crypto mining companies will disclose emissions from operations that consume more than 5 megawatts of power and require the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lead an interagency investigation into the impact of crypto mining in the United States. That investigation would have a budget of $5 million and would publish its findings within 18 months of the bill's passage.

markey list 16 public organizations supporting the bill, including groups like the Sierra Club, Greenpeace USA, and the National Stop Crypto Coalition. He said in a statement:

โ€œCrypto miners are sucking megawatt after megawatt from our public networks and emitting skyrocketing greenhouse gases, just so they can make money for themselves. We cannot afford to allow this industry to trample our communities any longer."

Markey will soon chair a meeting of the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. That meeting will โ€œfocus on the urgent need to crack down on the growing environmental impacts of crypto mining,โ€ Markey stated.

Related: Bitcoin miners refute claims made by US Democratic lawmakers to EPA administrator

Markey and Huffman were among the Democratic lawmakers who wrote to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in February, calling for their agencies to "work together to address the underreporting of energy use and the environmental impacts of crypto mining." They too signed a letter to the CEO from the Texas Electric Reliability Board requesting information on the energy use and environmental impact of crypto mining in Texas. Senator Elizabeth Warren was the lead author of both letters.