WASHINGTON, D.C. ? Congress has until December 31 to extend the biodiesel tax incentive, Western Farm Press reports. The American Soybean Association (ASA) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) have urged members to ask their senators and representatives to renew the $1 a gallon tax credit.
?It is imperative that Congress extend the incentive before adjourning for the year,? said the American Soybean Association in a letter to members last week.
It appeared that legislation renewing the credit would be folded into the Department of Defense Appropriations bill, but Congress approved that measure without adding language supporting an extension.
?It seems like nearly everyone in the administration is touting the benefits of green jobs and a clean energy economy,? said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA). ?It?s astonishing, then, that this Congress will head home for the holidays while thousands of green energy workers receive pink slips and furloughs.?
The idea behind the tax credit is to help equalize the higher cost of biodiesel production. ?In 2008, the biodiesel industry supported more than 51,000 green jobs,? said Sen. Grassley in a speech on the Senate floor. ?Because of the downturn in the economy and the credit crisis, the biodiesel industry has already shed 29,000 green jobs.?
Sen. Grassley and Sen. Marian Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the Biodiesel Tax Incentive Reform and Extension Act of 2009, which would continue the credit for five years, as well change it into a production excise tax credit. A similar bill has been sponsored in the House by Reps. Earl Pomeroy (D-ND) and John Shimkus (R-IL).
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