Draft legislation in the US Senate poses potential fees on data centers that support blockchain networks and artificial intelligence models if they surpass federal emissions limits, as reported on April 11.
Spearheaded by Senate Democrats Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman, this proposed bill seeks to tackle the environmental repercussions of increasing energy demands while shielding households from escalating energy costs.
Named the Clean Cloud Act, the legislation would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish an emissions performance standard for data centers and cryptocurrency mining operations that have more than 100 KW of installed IT power.
This standard would be calibrated based on regional grid emissions intensities, with an ambitious target of an 11% annual reduction. The proposal also entails penalties for emissions that exceed the established benchmarks, beginning at $20 per ton of CO2 equivalent, with the penalty rising annually in line with inflation plus an additional $10.
The urgency behind this legislation stems from concerns about the rapidly growing energy needs of cryptocurrency miners and data centers, which are expected to account for as much as 12% of the total US electricity demand by 2028.
Research from Morgan Stanley indicates that the expansion of data centers could lead to an estimated 2.5 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions globally by the decade’s end.
Matthew Sigel, head of research at VanEck, criticized the legislation for singling out Bitcoin miners and similar operations in what he termed a “Losing ‘Blame the Server Racks’ Strategy.”
Additionally, the bill may conflict with US policies enacted under the previous administration, which repealed an executive order aimed at establishing AI safety standards. That former president had voiced a commitment to positioning the US as the “world capital” of AI and cryptocurrency.
The draft law, still pending Senate approval, emerges as Bitcoin miners—including companies like Galaxy, CoreScientific, and Terawulf—begin to shift their focus toward providing high-performance computing (HPC) power for AI applications.
Struggling with declining cryptocurrency values, miners are now diversifying into AI data-center hosting as a means to broaden their revenue streams and adapt existing infrastructure for high-performance computing needs.
According to Coin Metrics, miners’ earnings showed signs of stabilization in the early months of 2025. However, this rebound could be jeopardized by ongoing trade tensions that affect their operational frameworks, as suggested by various cryptocurrency industry leaders.
“Heightened tariffs and counterproductive trade practices could pose significant challenges for node operators, validators, and other essential participants in blockchain ecosystems,” commented Nicholas Roberts-Huntley, CEO of Concrete & Glow Finance.
“In uncertain global conditions, the infrastructure that supports cryptocurrencies, beyond just the assets themselves, may suffer collateral damage.”