The U.S. Senate failed for the third time during the month of June to clear the 60 vote hurdle necessary to move forward on legislation reinstating the biodiesel tax incentive.
The latest cloture vote held June 24 on the most recent Baucus Substitute Amendment to H.R. 4213, the American Job and Closing Loopholes Act of 2010, included a retroactive reinstatement of the biodiesel tax incentive through December 31, 2010.
The vote failed by a 57-41 margin. The Senate has no current timeline to take up this legislation again.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who first introduced a measure in August 2009 to reinstate the tax credit, again tried to offer another avenue for passage by filing an amendment on the small business bill that is currently being debated in the Senate.
In response to this news, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association biofuels manager Grant Menke, challenged the Senate to "find the courage to match its words with actions" in creating green jobs and displacing gallons of crude oil.
"As senators continue to extol the virtues of green job creation and clean energy on a daily basis following the tragic oil spill in the Gulf, the Senate’s lack of action has served no purpose other than assuring that the U.S. biodiesel industry remains stagnant at best and in a freefall at worst,” said Menke.
Alicia Clancy, spokesperson for the Renewable Energy Group, added, "Despite this continued delay, we are optimistic about biodiesel demand due to the July 1 implementation date of the RFS2."
The final RFS2 calls for 1.150 billion gallons of biodiesel to be used domestically by the end of 2010. Biodiesel used domestically in 2009 and 2010 will count towards this total.
On May 25, 2010, the Friends of the Earth and the National Chicken Council, among others, filed lawsuits in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit regarding the requirement that both 2009 and 2010 levels be met in 2010.
The National Biodiesel Board decided to intervene in the litigation on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, NBB announced June 24.
Manning Feraci, NBB vice president of federal affairs, noted that the methodology utilized by the EPA to gauge GHG emission requirements established by statute is not perfect.
"That said, the challenges to the land use aggregation rules and the lifecycle analysis in these lawsuits run contrary to the will of Congress and would undermine the statute’s worthwhile objective of displacing petroleum with advanced biofuels like biodiesel. Accordingly, the NBB will vigorously defend the interests of the U.S. biodiesel industry as the legal process moves forward.” Feraci said.
Policy is one of the most important issues facing farmers today, but often the most difficult to digest. Jacqui Fatka has a passion to decode the often difficult world of agricultural policy into terms understandable for today's ag players.
Fatka joined the Farm Progress team as E-Content Editor in August 2003 after graduating from Iowa State University. Prior to full-time employment with Farm Progress, she interned at Wallaces Farmer magazine, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley's press office and the Iowa Pork Producers Association and freelanced for National Hog Farmer. She also worked as a public relations consultant with Iowa Industries for the Future, an effort to bring together major players in the biorenewables industry.
Currently Fatka is a staff editor at a sister publication, Feedstuffs. For Farm Futures she regularly tells the story of ongoing agricultural policy changes. Her byline can also be found on management profiles.
Fatka grew up on a grain and livestock farm near Atlantic, Iowa. She currently lives in central Ohio with her husband Eric.
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