US Lawmakers Press Bitcoin Mining Firms on Energy Usage, Carbon Emissions, Climate Crisis

Eight U.S. lawmakers, together with Senator Elizabeth Warren, have despatched letters to high U.S.-based bitcoin mining companies questioning them about their crypto mining operations. “The terribly excessive vitality utilization and carbon emissions related to bitcoin mining may undermine our laborious work to sort out the local weather disaster — to not point out the dangerous impacts cryptomining has on native environments and electrical energy costs,” Senator Warren wrote.

US Senators Want Answers From Top Bitcoin Mining Firms

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, introduced Thursday that she and 7 different senators have despatched letters to 6 crypto mining firms “elevating issues over their terribly excessive vitality utilization.”

The announcement particulars: “Senator Warren and her colleagues requested every firm to element their electrical energy consumption, scaling plans, agreements with electrical energy firms, and affect on vitality prices for shoppers and small companies by February 10, 2022.”

The letters have been despatched to 6 crypto mining companies: Riot Blockchain, Marathon Digital Holdings, Stronghold Digital Mining, Bitdeer, Bitfury Group, and Bit Digital.

Senator Warren defined:

The terribly excessive vitality utilization and carbon emissions related to bitcoin mining may undermine our laborious work to sort out the local weather disaster — to not point out the dangerous impacts cryptomining has on native environments and electrical energy costs.

She claims that “Bitcoin mining’s energy consumption has greater than tripled from 2019 to 2021, rivaling the vitality consumption of Washington state, and of total international locations like Denmark, Chile, and Argentina.”

“We want extra data on the operations of those cryptomining firms to grasp the complete scope of the implications for the environment and native communities,” the senator from Massachusetts pressured.

In December final 12 months, Senator Warren despatched an identical letter to Greenidge Generation Holdings, which operates one of many largest bitcoin mining operations within the U.S. She requested the corporate about their emissions and impacts on native ecosystems and electrical energy costs.

A report on the bitcoin mining trade revealed by Coinshares this month notes that “Usage of vitality is a contentious and far misunderstood perform of the Bitcoin financial system.” The report explains, “Carbon emissions emitted by electrical energy suppliers supplying the bitcoin mining community are inconsequential,” elaborating:

At 0.08% of world CO2e emissions, eradicating your entire mining community from international demand — and thereby depriving lots of of hundreds of thousands of individuals of their solely hope for a good and accessible type of cash — wouldn’t quantity to something greater than a rounding error.

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