U.S. government threatens ban on proof-of-work
The crypto industry must become more climate-friendly, the U.S. government demands.
The crypto industry must become more climate-friendly, the U.S. government says. Otherwise, a mining ban looms.
In a report on the crypto industry's impact on the climate, the White House calls for a drastic cut in the industry's energy consumption. Under the climate targets of the U.S. government, greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 50 to 52% by 2030. To achieve this, the crypto industry should focus on several goals, they said.
These include "reducing greenhouse gas emissions, avoiding activities that raise electricity costs for consumers, avoiding activities that reduce the reliability of the power grid, and avoiding negative effects on fairness, communities, and the local environment".
The basis for this, they said, is a "collaborative process with states, communities, and the crypto industry to develop effective, empirically grounded environmental performance standards for the responsible design, development, and use of green crypto technologies." To this end, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and "other federal agencies should provide technical assistance".
If these goals are not met, a ban on proof-of-work could be an option: "If these measures prove ineffective at reducing the impacts, the government should consider executive actions and Congress could consider legislation to restrict or prohibit the use of energy-intensive consensus mechanisms for mining crypto assets".
