The U.S. Congress has completed a meeting in which members discussed how they can make the process of bitcoin mining greener. The situation is a bit of a two-sided coin in that they want to ensure renewable energy is available to this growing industry as they acknowledge it’s not likely to go anywhere soon.
Why Is Congress Getting Involved in Crypto Mining?
The meeting took place amongst members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The U.S. has become a major crypto mining haven over the past several months given that China shocked the world over the summer when it announced that it would be ceasing all crypto mining projects as a way of becoming more carbon neutral. As a result, many people in China that ran bitcoin and crypto mining rigs were forced to find new places to house their operations, and regions in the U.S. such as Texas and Kentucky became very attractive.
Diana Degette – a democrat from Colorado – explained in an interview:
Cryptocurrency presence in everyday life will likely continue to expand. As the industry moves forward, it’s crucial for cryptocurrency networks to identify ways to reduce the need for constant high volume energy use and minimize effects on the environment.
It’s odd to see the U.S. Congress take such an interest in crypto mining as of late given that the institution has done nothing over the past few months but allegedly try and hinder what is becoming a huge financial industry. One case of trying to hinder crypto arguably came in the form of last summer’s infrastructure bill which included verbiage that placed harsh tax restrictions on traders.
Degette says that one of the big reasons Congress is getting involved is because they are seeing too many old power stations being converted in the name of crypto mining. These power plants should have been decommissioned long ago, and thus they present potential hazards to the country’s atmosphere. Continuing her statement, she said:
Given our current climate objectives, examples like this are deeply concerning. Our focus now needs to be reducing carbon emissions overall and increasing the share of green energy on the grid.
A Lot of Flak Over the Years…
Crypto mining has taken a rather bad rap from environmentalists over the past two years and even larger industry heads such as Elon Musk. As the CEO of Tesla, Musk announced early last year that buyers could purchase electric vehicles with bitcoin, though this decision was rescinded just a few weeks later when he stated that he had concerns about the mining process, and he didn’t feel miners were being careful with their energy reserves.
Kevin O’Leary of “Shark Tank” fame also said he wouldn’t be buying any more BTC mined in China given that the nation was not known for its environmentally friendly extraction methods.
