Senate Bill Targets Crypto Miners with Emissions Penalties

A new U.S. Senate proposal threatens to disrupt operations for crypto miners and AI data centers. The Clean Cloud Act, introduced by Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman, seeks to impose emissions limits and financial penalties on facilities that exceed federally set environmental benchmarks.

The bill hasn't passed yet but comes as Bitcoin mining firms increasingly pivot toward AI infrastructure, leveraging their high-performance computing (HPC) setups to offset declining crypto revenues. Major mining firms like Galaxy, CoreScientific, and Terawulf are already integrating AI services into their operations.

Under the proposed legislation, the EPA would be tasked with setting an emissions performance standard for facilities with over 100 kilowatts of installed IT capacity. These standards would be regionally based and require an 11% annual emissions reduction. Any facility exceeding these limits would face penalties starting at $20 per metric ton of CO2e, with annual increases based on inflation plus an additional $10 per ton.

Critics argue the bill unfairly singles out crypto mining, labeling it a 'Losing 'Blame the Server Racks' Strategy,' suggesting it's an oversimplified attempt to pin broader energy concerns on a specific industry. The proposal also risks clashing with former President Donald Trump’s deregulatory stance, which included repealing a 2023 Biden executive order on AI safety.