Senators' Bill Would Support Biofuels Industry
Tax credits and import tariff on ethanol would be expanded five years.
Compiled by staff
Published: Apr 21, 2010
Under the title of the Green Jobs Act of 2010, Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Kent Conrad, D-N.D., have introduced a bill that would extend, through 2015, the 45 cents-per-gallon ethanol blenders tax credit and the 54 cents-per-gallon ethanol import tariff for five years. Both provisions are slated to expire at the end of this year. The bill would also extend the $1.01 per gallon cellulosic ethanol production tax credit until the end of 2015.
The Senators believe extension of these policies is the right thing to do. Grassley says the lapse of the separate tax credit for biodiesel, which expired at the end of 2009, has cost 29,000 clean-energy jobs and put 23,000 more at risk.
"We can't risk a repeat performance with ethanol, where 112,000 jobs are at stake," Conrad said. "Our country is in serious danger because of skyrocketing energy costs. This growing crisis demands urgent action."
Bob Dinneen, President of the Renewable Fuels Association, says tax incentives aiding the expansion of America's ethanol industry are sound public policies by any economic, environmental or energy measure. Dinneen says passage of this bill would ensure the evolution of American ethanol technologies continues.
The Grassley-Conrad Bill mirrors similar legislation introduced in the House. National Corn Growers Association President Darrin Ihnen, a grower from Hurley, S.D., says his organization is pleased to see that both the House and Senate understand how important the tax credit is their industry.
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Tagged: ethanol, Extension, National Corn Growers Association, biodiesel, cellulosic ethanol
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