Bitcoin Mining Not A Threat to Public Safety – Rep Emmer Criticizes OMB’s Abuse of Power
United States lawmaker Tom Emmer has criticized the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) decision to approve the Energy Information Administration (EIA) request to collect data on Bitcoin (BTC) mining firms.
In a Feb 22 letter to the OMB, he expressed his displeasure with recent events, backing Bitcoin and miners’ freedom to protect the network.
Texas Blockchain Counsil and Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms have sued EIA over the same bitcoin mining data order.
Bitcoin mining is not a threat to public safety. Period.
The OMB's abuse of its emergency powers to attack Bitcoin miners demands an explanation.
Read my letter to the OMB below.https://t.co/zojJqpRqiK
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) February 22, 2024
On Jan 24, the OMB approved the EIA’s request to subject Bitcoin miners to a “new, mandatory information collection regime.”
According to the lawmaker, the agency’s use of energy power only comes in if there is a threat to public safety, adding that Bitcoin miners do not pose a threat.
The letter to the OMB was supported by the cryptocurrency community who also asked for explanations of the Department’s actions.
The United States House Majority Whip backed the industry and its freedom in a recent letter to the delight of industry participants.
He argued that Bitcoin miners play a critical role in securing the entire network, describing it as portraying American values. This is because of the open and permissionless model on which the blockchain operates.
“To its core, this technology embodies American values, but regardless, technology policy must be politically neutral. Bitcoin miners are simply computers that use electricity, a majority derived from sustainable sources across the United States, to validate and settle
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