U.S. senators have introduced a bill on the environmental transparency of crypto assets, according to which miners using more than 5 MW of electricity are required to report greenhouse gas emissions.
The bill was introduced by Senator Ed Markley and US Representative Jared Huffman. They believe that this will increase the oversight of cryptocurrencies that affect the environment. The legislators explained that the mining of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using the Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm requires a large amount of electricity. According to the White House Office of Science and Technology, cryptocurrencies account for 1.7% of electricity consumed in the US, of which 1.4% is Bitcoin.
According to Senator Markley, mining farms jeopardize government efforts to combat climate change. If the bill goes into effect, any businesses using more than 5 MW of electricity to mine cryptocurrencies will be required to report on their greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. At the same time, it is not clear what further actions the authorities will take based on the data received from the miners: whether their activities will be completely stopped, or restrictions will be imposed on them.
“This initiative will be an important step towards understanding the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the environment, as well as holding miners accountable for environmental damage,” the legislators noted.
In May, environmental activists were already calling on the US government to conduct audits of mining operations and increase the level of transparency regarding the use of electricity by miners.
Source: Bits
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