Environmental groups urge US government to take action on crypto miners
A group of eight organizations focused on the environment have called on different government agencies under the Biden administration to implement new approaches in response to Proof-of-Work and other crypto mining operations.
In a letter to the United States Office of Science and Technology Policy on Monday, the Environmental Working Group, Earthjustice, Greenpeace, the League of Conservation Voters, the Sierra Club, Friends of the Earth, the Seneca Lake Guardian, and the Milwaukee Riverkeeper urged the White House to enact policies aimed at curbing “the electricity use and climate pollution associated with digital currencies that rely on [PoW].” Specifically, the organizations alleged crypto mining in the United States harmed communities by creating increasing demand for electricity sourced by fossil fuels, threatened supply chains with demand for application-specific integrated circuits in rigs, created significant electronic waste, and would not “aid the transition to renewable electricity.”
The group of eight proposed the Environmental Protection Agency subject PoW mining firms to “stringent reviews” around operating permits “to mitigate the harms of cryptocurrency mining ewaste disposal in large quantities” as well as address claims of noise pollution allegedly caused by mining rigs. In addition, they requested the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs create a registry for many PoW mining operations in an effort for firms to “disclose their energy sources and quantities.”
Other recommendations included the Department of Energy implementing energy efficiency standards for PoW miners, with the limit tightened over time “to eventually eliminate” proof-of-work mining. However, the
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