Congress is on its Easter recess until April 12. Today was the 100th day since the tax expired. Meanwhile, plants across the US are idled, or out of business. In NC, two biodiesel plants are still in operation, out of 8.
Triangle Biofuels is one of them, producing about 2 truckloads a week currently. But without the tax credit, we cannot continue to operate unless the commodities market inverts (vegetable oil being cheaper than petroleum).
The second jobs bill that has the $1-per-gallon tax credit for biodiesel for 2010 awaits action by the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill, H.R. 4213, is called the American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act.
There is some buzz, mostly rumors I hope, that the large Ag concerns are lobbying hard for congress NOT TO PASS the bill anytime soon in order to weed out the small biodiesel plants. It’d be easy to play up on that from the conspiracy theory standpoint, but it’s gossip as far as I know. The evidence sure seems to point that way though.
Want to help? Email, call, or write your senator and congressman and ask him/her why they haven’t moved HR 4213 into law.