Republican Rep. Tom Emmer criticized the government agency’s investigation of Bitcoin miners as an “abuse of power.”

House Majority Leader Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has a bone to pick with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget over its recent move to authorize data collection from U.S. Bitcoin mining companies.

Emmer said he wants answers from OMB after the agency. allowed Last month, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) — The U.S. Department of Energy’s Statistics and Analytics Agency — is launching an investigation into the power consumption of certain cryptocurrency mining companies. In the letter, Emmer expressed concerns about OMB’s use of emergency authorization powers and said Bitcoin miners do not currently pose a threat to public safety. I sent it to OMB Director Shalanda Young this week.

“Bitcoin mining is not a threat to public safety, period,” Emmer said. post Thursday at “An explanation is needed for OMB’s abuse of emergency powers to attack Bitcoin miners.”

Emmer said the agency must certify to OMB that: Among other criteria: “It is reasonably likely that harm to the public will occur.”

“With OMB’s assistance, EIA appears to be implementing the Biden administration’s regressive policy stance on energy consumption and subjectively applying it to the digital asset industry,” Emmer said in the letter.

Emmer posed questions to OMB, including asking what criteria the agency used to determine the legality of an “emergency” and whether EIA received public input in advance.

Emmer did not set a deadline for OMB’s response.

OMB did not respond to a request for comment, and EIA declined to comment.

The lawsuit continues.

Emmer’s letter comes as the Texas Blockchain Council and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms, Inc. sued the Department of Energy in Texas District Court on Thursday, claiming the investigation was “unlawfully authorized” by OMB.

“This is an example of sloppy government procedures, artificial and self-inflicted urgency, and intrusive government data collection,” the complaint says.

According to the complaint, members of the Texas Blockchain Council, which includes Riot, said the survey would take “multiple hours by multiple employees at each company each month,” despite EIA saying it would only take 30 minutes each month.

“Without the intervention of this court, Plaintiffs, TBC members and other mining companies that are legally required to undergo and complete flawed investigations will suffer immediate and irreparable harm by being forced to disclose confidential, sensitive and proprietary information to EIA. .There is no legal authority to request or collect,” the complaint said.

EIA declined to comment on the lawsuit, and OMB and the Department of Energy did not respond to requests for comment.

Concerns about the energy usage of Bitcoin mining

Electricity demand associated with cryptocurrency mining operations in the United States is said to have grown rapidly over the past few years. name It was launched by EIA in February.

“As cryptocurrency mining increases in the United States, concerns have grown about the energy-intensive nature of the business and its impact on the U.S. power industry. Concerns expressed in the EIA include the strain on the power grid during periods of peak demand. Potential increases in electricity prices and impacts on energy-related carbon dioxide (CO)₂) emissions,” the EIA said.

Democratic lawmakers, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Dick Durbin of Illinois and Katie Porter of California, have expressed concerns about cryptocurrency mining companies straining Texas’ power grid and impacting climate change.

“Cryptocurrency mining is adding significant demand to an already unreliable power grid, posing enormous challenges to transmission and distribution systems and prices, and contributing to the global climate crisis,” the 2022 lawmakers said.

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