Warren targets crypto miners over “disruptive” energy consumption
Important takeaways
- Senator Elizabeth Warren is leading a regulatory push to get U.S.-based crypto miners to report data on energy use and carbon emissions.
- On Friday, she and five other congressional Democrats sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy, asking them to consider imposing reporting requirements on crypto-miners.
- Lawmakers said federal intervention was necessary because the miner’s energy consumption and carbon emissions were “disturbing.”
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Senator Elizabeth Warren has called out the crypto industry once again. This time, US-based cryptocurrency miners are in the crosshairs.
Warren pushes for reporting requirements for Crypto Miner
Senator Elizabeth Warren and five other members of the Democratic Congress have sent a letter asking the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to impose reporting requirements for energy and carbon emissions to crypto-mining companies.
IN the letter sent to the two agencies on Friday, the ardent anti-crypto Massachusetts senator and the other Democratic lawmakers shared information about their recent investigation into the alleged environmental impacts of cryptocurrency mining. Lawmakers collected data from the seven largest crypto-mining companies in the United States and concluded that the miners had a “major impact on climate change.” As a result, they argued, “federal intervention is needed.”
“The results of our survey, which collected data from just seven companies, are disturbing,” the lawmakers wrote, adding that the crypto miners are “large energy users who account for a significant – and rapidly growing – amount of carbon emissions.” According to the Warren-led investigation, the seven companies alone had developed over 1045 MW of capacity for cryptocurrency mining. This equates to almost enough energy to power all homes in Houston, Texas, the letter noted.
In particular, the letter contained incomplete data voluntarily provided by the seven mining companies, as well as mainstream media articles and data based on much-debated studies. Nevertheless, members of Congress argued that the results of their research required a need to crack down on the controversial mining sector.
In order to meet the environmental considerations outlined in the letter, Legislators have proposed imposing stricter reporting requirements on cryptocurrency miners. Specifically, lawmakers asked the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy to work together and use all available authorities at their disposal to require U.S. mining companies to report their energy use and emissions. According to the letter, these collected data will better inform future policy formulation and provide better modeling of national and regional grid loads and transitions.
This is not the first time Senator Warren has called for a tougher approach to the crypto industry. In July 2021 CNBC The interview made Warren memorably upset crypto enthusiasts when she compared digital assets like Bitcoin with drugs and snake oil and requested urgent regulatory work in the market. Later that month, she sent a letter to the SEC, and asks the securities regulator to confront the potential risks of cryptocurrency and act more decisively to protect investors.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this article owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
