In the US, they will study the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment

The authorities of the United States of America have submitted a bill in which the Occupational Safety and Health Agency is required to study the issue of the impact of cryptocurrency mining on the environment. The legislature wants the research work to be done thoroughly enough. At their request, the Agency must report on greenhouse gas emissions from facilities that consume more than 5 MW.

The bill was drafted by Jared Hoffman and Edward Markey. The first is a member of the US House of Representatives, and Edward Markey holds the position of senator. According to them, at the moment, the share of bitcoin mining has reached 1.4% of the total electricity consumption in the United States. The scale of spending is so large that such a volume would be more than enough to cover all households in the country.

Jared Hoffman and Edward Markey are very concerned about the issue of electricity consumption, as they believe the greenhouse gas emissions from the production of bitcoin can easily be compared with 7,000,000 gasoline-powered cars.

Hoffman commented on this issue:

Cryptomining facilities not only undermine our efforts to combat the climate crisis, but can also pollute nearby communities. Giving this industry impunity for causing such environmental harm is against numerous federal policies, and we need to understand the harm that this industry represents.

Jared Hoffman and Edward Markey rightly believe that all the problems are caused by the method of mining the flagship cryptocurrency. Bitcoin is mined through proof-of-work, and Ethereum can be safely called a clear example to follow in this matter. The main altcoin, after switching to the Proof-of-Stake mining principle, was able to reduce electricity consumption by 99.9%. According to the authors of the project, if bitcoin can be mined in this way, then the environment will be significantly improved.

So far, the bill has been supported by the Sierra Club, Earthjustice, and the Seneca Lake Guardian and the Environmental Working Group. Yvonne Taylor, vice president of the Seneca Lake Guardian, said that as the cryptocurrency industry grows, so does the threat to the ecology and communities dedicated to sustaining the environment. Taylor recalled that the Seneca Lake Guardian had previously been able to delay the start of natural-fuel cryptocurrency mining in New York State. Previously, such a process had a detrimental effect on Seneca Lake, the local economy and climate.

Against the cryptocurrency market, environmentalists have something to say mainly only in cases of mining digital assets on the principle of Proof-of-Work. Ethereum with its transition to Proof-of-Stake does not collect so much negativity around itself.

Scott Faber, vice president of the Environmental Working Group, also expressed his opinion in the direction of bitcoin mining. According to Faber, electricity can be used more efficiently than spent on Proof-of-Work:

The incentives built into digital assets like bitcoin are demanding more and more electricity, not less, at a time when we all need to use it more efficiently. We are grateful to Senator Markey for making the climate and energy impacts of cryptocurrency mining a priority.

Previously, the Environmental Working Group launched an advertising campaign with a large budget in excess of $1,000,000 to promote the idea of bitcoin's transition to Proof-of-Stake mining.