The National Biodiesel Board issued the following statement Thursday as the Senate was poised to take up an amendment from Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., that would extend the $1 per gallon biodiesel tax incentive:
"We applaud Sen. Stabenow for introducing this amendment and we urge all senators to support it," says Anne Steckel, vice president of federal affairs at the National Biodiesel Board. "This is about creating good-paying jobs and building up a U.S. energy industry that will help end our dangerous vulnerability to the kinds of oil price spikes we're seeing now."
Made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources such as agricultural oils, recycled cooking oil and animal fats, biodiesel is a renewable, clean-burning diesel replacement that can be used in existing diesel engines. It's the first and only commercial-scale fuel produced across the U.S. to meet the Environmental Protection Agency's definition as an Advanced Biofuel - meaning the EPA has determined that it reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% when compared with petroleum diesel. It is produced in nearly every state in the country and last year supported more than 39,000 jobs and $3.8 billion in GDP, according to a recent study conducted by Cardno ENTRIX, an international economics consulting firm.
