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Bitcoin mining machines in a warehouse at the Whinstone US Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, the largest in North America. Operations like this one have been boosted by China’s intensified crypto crackdown that has pushed the industry west. (Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images)
feature March 25, 2024

State Legislation Alert: As Alarm Grows Over Crypto Mining’s Energy Consumption, Bitcoin Lobbyists Peddle State Bills

A new “model” bill carves out special protections for crypto miners that can threaten the grid and raise electricity rates.

Earthjustice halted a years-long effort by officials in Kern County, California, to fast-track oil and gas permits. We continue to fight new fossil fuel infrastructure as we help build the clean energy transition. (Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock)
Article March 21, 2024

The clean energy transition is happening. But Big Oil isn’t budging.

The fossil fuel industry is backsliding on its climate pledges. Earthjustice is filing lawsuits to keep pushing for the clean energy transition that science demands.

In the News: Canary Media March 14, 2024

Is CARB staff blocking reform at California’s clean transport program?

Sasan Saadat, Senior Research and Policy Analyst, Clean Energy Program: “It feels like the shots are being called behind the scenes. What we heard from the board was pretty unambiguously, ​‘We’d like to see this tightened up.’”

In the News: Indiana Public Radio March 13, 2024

Pines residents, activists worry coal ash cleanup standard for soil based on flawed data

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “It may result in very few properties being cleaned up if that [natural level of arsenic] standard is set artificially high.”

In the News: The Orange County Register March 13, 2024

After protests, SoCalGas scales back plans to test hydrogen energy at UC Irvine

Sara Gersen, Attorney, Right to Zero: “SoCalGas’ hydrogen project threatens to increase lung-searing pollution in a community already breathing some of the most polluted air in the country.”

In the News: The Detroit News March 12, 2024

Hubs, environment groups square off over ‘high stakes’ hydrogen tax credit

Lauren Piette, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “Treasury’s proposed rule accurately reflects the high stakes of this, and the high stakes of getting the rules wrong and causing serious consequences for the climate and communities with subsidies illegally going to dirty hydrogen that really should be going to clean hydrogen.”

In the News: Energy News Network March 12, 2024

Parsing legal definitions, power industry pushes back on EPA coal ash enforcement

Gavin Kearney, Deputy Managing Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “The whole overarching point (of the federal rules) is that groundwater contamination is a big problem; it’s really unsafe, and we have to prevent it. You can’t let water in (to a coal ash impoundment); you can’t let water out; you can’t let water just sit inside…

Bitcoin mining machines in a warehouse at the Whinstone US Bitcoin mining facility in Rockdale, Texas, the largest in North America. Operations like this one have been boosted by China’s intensified crypto crackdown that has pushed the industry west. (Mark Felix / AFP via Getty Images)
From the Experts March 12, 2024

Cryptocurrency Miners Need to Report their Energy Use

The U.S. Energy Information Administration raises concerns about energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining operations, will seek comments on reporting requirements.

In the News: States Newsroom March 6, 2024

Commentary: Md. can lead the transition away from fossil fuels

Susan Stevens Miller, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “The energy sector is profoundly transitioning away from toxic fossil fuels to clean renewable energy, and Maryland is among the states that can lead it there.”

In the News: Denton Record-Chronicle February 28, 2024

Texas bitcoin miners don’t have to report energy usage yet; Denton touts selling renewables

Thom Cmar, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “The EIA collects this type information from every energy user in the U.S., so there is no question that they have the authority to collect this information. It’s just a question of whether this industry is willing to cooperate by making this information publicly available to the extent it…

In the News: Energy News Network February 28, 2024

Scientists warn a poorly managed hydrogen rush could make climate change worse

Lauren Piette, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “NOx emissions are not the only reason why burning hydrogen to make electricity is a bad idea — it is also wildly inefficient and hard to do. Burning green hydrogen in a gas plant to make electricity is like using a Rube Goldberg machine to strike a match. You…

In the News: Fortune February 27, 2024

Texas Bitcoin miner sues feds over energy survey

Thom Cmar, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “The EIA clearly has authority to collect this type of information from crypto miners, as it does from many other industries. The reporting burdens here are minimal, and this is information that the public has the right to know.”

People wait in a long line to enter a grocery store in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 16, 2021, to stock up on supplies after Winter Storm Uri and ahead of another expected storm. Huge winter storms crippled electric grids and left millions of Americans without power amid dangerously cold temperatures. (Tamir Kalifa / The New York Times)
Press Release February 26, 2024

Southwest Power Pool Again Proposes Discriminatory Renewable Energy Accreditation

SPP’s proposal fails to assess the vulnerabilities of aging coal and gas plants and continues to discriminate against cleaner resources

In the News: Indianapolis Star February 20, 2024

EPA: Cancer risk from coal ash higher than previously revealed. Could it be in your yard?

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “Nothing prevents power plants from moving radioactive waste from their own backyards into the backyards and neighborhoods where American families live.”

In the News: Grist February 8, 2024

Bitcoin mining uses a lot of energy. The US government is about to find out how much.

Mandy DeRoche, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “This is nonpartisan data that’s collected from the miners themselves that no one else has. Understanding this data is the first step to understanding what we can do next.”

In the News: Energy News Network February 8, 2024

Environmental justice groups ask feds to resist weakening rules on clean hydrogen tax credit

Lauren Piette, Attorney, Clean Energy Program: “Treasury needs to reject the loopholes industry is demanding, which would create enormous subsidies for dirty hydrogen, lock in more fossil fuel production and use, and increase dangerous health and climate-harming pollution,”

In the News: Inside Climate News February 8, 2024

EPA Reports “Widespread Noncompliance” With the Nation’s First Regulations on Toxic Coal Ash

Lisa Evans, Senior Counsel, Clean Energy Program: “We see this as the first shot across the bow informing the utilities and states and stakeholders that EPA indeed does find significant noncompliance with the coal ash rule.”

Press Release: Victory February 8, 2024

Advocates and Consumers Energy Reach Agreement on Critical Energy Efficiency Programs

Michigan Public Service Commission approves settlement agreement that will significantly help utility customers