[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 24]
[Senate]
[Page 32963]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




          THE IMPORTANCE OF RENEWING THE BIODIESEL TAX CREDIT

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on December 31, 2009, the current 
biodiesel tax credit will expire. This tax credit increases domestic 
demand and provides an incentive for U.S. producers to increase 
investment and output. It is essential in producing biodiesel and 
allowing it to compete with petroleum diesel. Without the tax credit, 
petroleum marketers will be unwilling to purchase the more expensive 
biodiesel, and demand will be heavily reduced.
  As all of my colleagues know, the biodiesel tax credit provides a $1-
per-gallon credit for biodiesel made from soybean oil or yellow grease 
and animal fats. The original version of this tax credit was passed in 
2004 and has been extended twice, most recently in October 2008.
  As a result, the U.S. biodiesel industry has grown significantly over 
the past several years, providing not just jobs but also the green jobs 
this administration and many of my friends on the other side of the 
aisle have so adamantly supported. However, the combination of volatile 
commodity prices and weak motor fuel demand caused by the current 
recession has severely affected the biodiesel industry for the worse 
and therefore increases our urgency to extend the credit today.
  In Kentucky, public school districts, universities, National and 
State parks, local governments, and the Transportation Cabinet are 
using biodiesel blends. These institutions and many Kentucky employers, 
including manufacturers in Kentucky, will be hurt beginning on January 
1 if we allow this tax credit to expire. One executive of a biofuel 
manufacturing facility wrote to me to say:

       The $1-per-gallon tax incentive is truly the difference 
     between the survival and collapse of this important industry. 
     Without this tax incentive, thousands of jobs will be lost 
     with plants closing down almost immediately after January 1. 
     And the nation will lose a vital link in its effort to reduce 
     our dependence on foreign oil.

  As we continue our important business, I implore my colleagues on the 
other side of the aisle to work to get the extenders finished this year 
and to include the renewal of the biodiesel tax credit.

                          ____________________