THELOGICALINDIAN - The House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is reportedly alignment a audition and anecdotic assemblage
U.S. Congress may anon accept its aboriginal audition on the ecology appulse of Proof-of-Work crypto mining.
Congress May Examine Bitcoin’s Environmental Impact
According to a address by The Block, the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations—a subcommittee of the beyond Abode Committee on Energy and Commerce—may be planning a audition on Bitcoin’s ecology appulse and the carbon brand of crypto mining.
The Subcommittee is reportedly alive on a account of assemblage who may affirm in an blank audition by the end of this month.
The Board on Activity and Commerce is the oldest continuing board in the U.S. House of Representatives. It has administration over a ample set of issues pertaining to the environment, energy, healthcare, and added important infrastructure.
It is noteworthy that the top cryptocurrency Bitcoin relies on a accord algorithm accepted as Proof-of-Work. This algorithm can alone be run with appropriate accretion accouterments that validates new affairs on the network. This makes mining a awful energy-intensive action that has been linked to accretion all-around carbon emissions.
A antecedent complex in pre-hearing discussions in the subcommittee told The Block that the House Energy and Commerce Committee was anxious about ecology issues consistent from “recent contest in New York State,” apropos to the rapid growth of Bitcoin mining in the U.S. state.
After China’s absolute ban on crypto in Sep. 2021, abounding ample mining companies confused operations to U.S. states such as New York, Texas, Alabama, and Wyoming. These states accept offered beneath big-ticket electricity ante to mining firms. The advance in U.S-based crypto mining helped accomplish the country the largest contributor to Bitcoin’s all-around hashrate in Oct. 2021.
Nevertheless, some environmentalists and politicians accept accurate their apropos apropos the ecology appulse larboard abaft by the mining industry.
In October 2021, 70 activist groups collaborated on a joint letter to the U.S. Congress, in which they requested Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), and others to booty activity to abate the furnishings of cryptocurrency on altitude change.
Some letters accept accent that cryptocurrency adjustment is added acceptable a added partisan issue. Republican Senators like Cynthia Lummis, Pat Toomey, and others accept announced agreeably of Bitcoin on record, while on the added side, some Democratic senators like Elizabeth Warren accept airtight Bitcoin for its activity consumption.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the columnist of this allotment endemic ETH and added cryptocurrencies.
