Senators Introduce Clean Cloud Act to Cut Crypto Mining Emissions by 11% Annually

Two Democratic Senators have introduced the “Clean Cloud Act of 2025” to address the escalating energy emissions from crypto mining. On April 11, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman drafted the bill, seeking to curb emissions from crypto mining and AI data centers. The legislation aims to impose fines on facilities that use non-renewable energy sources by 2035. The bill mandates annual reporting from mining facilities and data centers that use over 100 kilowatts of power. These facilities must also provide details of electricity sources, consumption data, and the intensity of emissions.

The bill highlights a lack of transparency regarding the energy sources used to power domestic crypto mining and many data center operations. According to Congress estimates, US-based data centers are projected to account for up to 12% of the nation’s electricity use by 2028. The total network hash rate for Bitcoin mining in the US has increased 739% between September 2020 and January 2022. Data centers are estimated to account for approximately 1% of global electricity demand and 4% of US electricity usage.

The draft bill amends the initial Clean Air Act, requiring facilities to adhere to different emissions caps as laid out in the Department of Energy’s National Transmission Needs Study. The emission caps would be set by the end of this year, lowering by 11% each year until reaching zero in 2035. Facilities that exceed the emissions caps would be imposed with inflation-adjusted fees. The penalty depends on how much their emissions exceeded the caps. These fees would then be used to reduce increases in residential electricity costs through grants to states and local municipalities.

The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works emphasized that crypto and AI data centers can support clean energy but are currently burning more fossil fuels and driving up families’ energy prices. The committee noted that the Clean Cloud Act ensures that the industries profiting from these operations also pay their own way.

However, the bill from Democratic Senators might likely face opposition from Republicans. President Trump stressed last year that he wants all future Bitcoin to be minted in the US. Further, Trump’s eldest sons are involved in the crypto mining industry. Energy infrastructure platform Hut 8 Corp. announced the launch of American Bitcoin Corp, an industrial-scale Bitcoin mining venture, in partnership with Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.