US Senator Elizabeth Warren Leads the Charge to Learn More About Crypto Mining Energy Usage – Regulation Incoming?

cryptonews.com:

Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic Senator who is known as a fierce crypto critic, is now part of an effort by lawmakers to learn more about the energy use of crypto mining.

The new initiative aims to increase the transparency requirements for crypto mining companies, particularly when it comes to the potential for pollution and emission of greenhouse gasses from their activities, according to letters shared with the media.

The letters were signed by the Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ed Markey, Jeff Merkley, Dick Durbin, as well as Representatives Jared Huffman, Katie Porter, and Rashida Tlaib.

The lawmakers also noted in the documents that federal agencies have the authority to force crypto mining companies to disclose how much energy is used in their operations, as well as how much greenhouse gases they emit.

It is this authority that the Democratic lawmakers now want the government agencies to use.

The new push comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier told lawmakers that it has the authority to collect pollution data from companies that emit more than 25,000 tons of CO2 annually under the Clean Air Act.

Judging from the new letters, however, lawmakers now want to know if the EPA has already listed all of these companies. And if not, when it plans to do so.

The information was revealed in letters between the Senators and public agencies that were obtained by the publication The Verge.

Senator Huffman also shared the news on Twitter, where he added that the Biden Administration should “make sure [crypto mining] companies are being transparent about their emissions and exactly how much energy they use.”

The matter is seen as particularly important now by some US politicians, given