Legislation from Democratic senators to regulate the environmental effects of cryptocurrency mining faces a difficult road ahead, as debate over the measure broke down along partisan lines during the first ever Senate hearing on the topic.
Lawmakers on the Senate Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air, Climate, and Nuclear Safety on Tuesday debated legislation that would require energy-intensive miners to disclose their emissions and mandate that the EPA lead a comprehensive study about the sector’s environmental impacts.
The $2 billion cryptocurrency industry is expected to more than quadruple in size over the next 10 years, “which means its …