The Bitcoin Mining Council has responded to a letter from a group of House Democrats to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Democrats sent a letter to EPA administrator Michael Regan last week, demanding more oversight of Bitcoin mining. The letter highlighted electronic waste from hardware replacement, greenhouse gas emissions, and the reopening of old gas and coal power plants, among other concerns.
MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor said in a statement on Twitter that they wrote a letter against this move, saying, “We wrote a response to clear confusion, correct mistakes and educate the public.”
Saylor organized the response with the help of the Bitcoin Mining Council. The council sent its own letter to the EPA, highlighting the misinformation contained in the Democrats’ letter.
Signers of the letter included Jack Dorsey, Mike Novogratz, G. Bart Smith, Anthony Scaramucci, Tom Jessop and Peter Fenton.
In the letter, it was argued that Bitcoin miners use electricity like any data center and that mining does not create any direct emissions.
According to the Council, a data center should not be treated differently from other power-using businesses as long as it complies with regulations.
The letter also emphasized that the claim that Bitcoin mining alone consumes 30,700 tons of electronic waste per year is inconsistent with reality.
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