The US House lawmakers are seeking information from four large crypto mining firms to understand the environmental impacts associated with blockchain technology.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee sent letters to Core Scientific, Marathon Digital Holdings, Stronghold Digital Mining, and Riot Blockchain on Wednesday. The letters were signed by committee chair Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Paul Tonko (D-NY).
The committee is concerned about the impact of proof of work and how it relates to emissions and excess electronic waste. The move appears to be the result of a coalition of national and local environmental groups urging the US government to tighten bitcoin mining regulations.
In a recent letter, it stated that blockchain technology holds immense promise to make our personal information more secure and the economy more efficient. However, the energy consumption and hardware required to support PoW-based cryptocurrencies produce severe externalities in the form of harmful emissions and excess e-waste.
The committee has requested information on the amount of energy each crypto mining firm used in 2021. It also asked about the energy source they used and the proportion of energy used that is offset by renewable energy credits.
The lawmakers also questioned how many days companies curtailed crypto mining to support grid stability in the last 12 months along with the cost per megawatt hour and the per megawatt-hour profit at each facility.
