Senators renew call for EPA investigation into crypto mining emissions data

by · March 3, 2023

United States 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 December, in the last Congress. Sen. Jeff Merkley served as co-sponsor in the Senate.

The bill would require cryptomining companies to disclose emissions for operations that use more than five megawatts of electricity and require the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to lead an interagency investigation into the impact of cryptomining in the United States. This inquiry will have a budget of $5 million and publish its findings within 18 months of the passage of the bill.

Markey listed 16 public organizations supporting the bill, including groups such as the Sierra Club, Greenpeace USA and the National Stop Crypto Coalition. He said in a statement:

“Cryptominers siphon megawatt after megawatt from our public grids and emit sky-high greenhouse gases, just so they can make money for themselves. We can’t afford to let this industry run roughshod over our communities any longer.”

Markey will soon chair a meeting of the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. That meeting will be “focused on the urgent need to crack down on the growing environmental impacts of cryptomining,” Markey said.

Related: Bitcoin miners refute claims 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 asking that their agencies “work together to address the lack of information about cryptomining’s energy use and environmental impacts.” They also signed a letter to the executive director of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas requesting information on crypto mining’s energy use and environmental impact in Texas. Senator Elizabeth Warren was the lead author of both of these letters.