US lawmakers ask about EPA, DOE monitoring of crypto mining emissions, energy consumption

Democratic legislators from both houses of the United States Congress have sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Energy Department (DOE) to inform them of their findings on the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining and asking the agencies to require mining to report their emissions and energy use. Meanwhile, the Paraguayan Senate, the upper house of that country’s legislature, has passed a comprehensive bill to regulate cryptocurrency and allow miners to use excess electricity generated in the country. 

The six U.S. lawmakers, led by crypto cynic Elizabeth Warren, noted in their July 15 letter that crypto mining has been increasing in the U.S. since it was banned by China last year. The seven crypto mining companies that responded to the legislators’ request for information revealed a collective capacity of 1,045 MW of electricity, which is equivalent to all the residences in Houston, TX, the fourth-largest city in the country.

Crypto miners’ energy use is driving up prices for other consumers, the letter claimed, citing government and academic studies and a press report. It dismissed responding miners’ claims of energy efficiency, saying, “These and similar promises about clean energy use obscure a simple fact: Bitcoin miners are using huge quantities of electricity that could be used for other priority end uses that contribute to our electrification and climate goals.”

My investigation shows that cryptominers use an exorbitant amount of energy with little to no public disclosure.

Regulators should require more transparency so all Americans can understand crypto’s impact on our local communities and planet.https://t.co/DKZYZYyyNO

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) July 15, 2022

There is little information available about emissions from crypto mining, the letter continued, but, “Our investigation suggests that the overall U.S. cryptomining industry is likely to be problematic for energy and emissions.” The authors requested that the EPA and DOE explain their authority to collect information on the cryptomining industry and their plans to do so, citing several beneficial uses of that information:

“This collected data would enable valuable public policy activities, including better monitoring of energy use and trends, better evidence basis for policy making, improved data for national mitigation analyses, better abilities for evaluating technology policies for the sector, and better modeling of national and…