It's time for us to weigh in with Congress on extending the biodiesel tax incentive beyond 2013.
As you may have heard, Senate leaders are moving forward with a bipartisan effort to reform the tax code. They are beginning with a "blank slate" and asking affected parties to demonstrate why their tax provisions deserve to be continued. The deadline for this effort is Friday, July 26. NBB will be submitting formal comments. But to have any chance of seeing our incentive included in the Senate proposal, it is critical that the biodiesel industry - producers, feedstock suppliers, distributors and other stakeholders from across the country - weigh in with senators about the importance of this provision.
Please take 5 to 10 minutes to call both of your state's U.S. senators and emphasize the importance of this incentive to your business and the local economy. Remind them of the national energy security and environmental benefits as well, and specifically urge them to tell the leaders of the Senate Finance Committee, Sens. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), that the biodiesel tax incentive is important and should be included in the pending tax proposal. Sens. Baucus and Hatch will be hearing from their colleagues about a wide variety of incentives, including those for our competitors, so it is very important that they hear from our supporters as well about the biodiesel incentive.
To reach your senators' offices, call the Senate switchboard at 202- 224-3121 or visit the
Senate website here. Unless you already have a contact at the office, ask to speak to the staffer who handles energy or tax issues.
Please also use the opportunity to call your U.S. Representative and remind him or her of the importance of the tax incentive. To reach your House member, call the switchboard at 202-225-3121 or visit
the House website here.
Additionally, our Washington office is happy to send you a list of key legislative assistants for your lawmakers, along with their direct emails and phone numbers, to make sure you can get through. Feel free to call our Washington office at 202-737-8801 or email Ben Evans at
bevans@biodiesel.org.