Since being implemented in 2005, the biodiesel tax incentive has played a significant role in stimulating growth in the U.S. biodiesel industry, helping it become the first EPA-designated Advanced Biofuel to exceed 1 billion gallons of annual production. By making biodiesel more cost-competitive with petroleum diesel, the $1-per-gallon tax credit creates jobs, strengthens U.S. energy security, reduces harmful and costly emissions, diversifies the fuels market, and ultimately lowers costs to the consumer. There is a clear correlation between the tax incentive and increased biodiesel production, which has grown from about 100 million gallons in 2005, when the tax incentive was first implemented, to almost 1.1 billion gallons in 2012.
However, the tax incentive has expired twice in its short history, creating significant disruptions in the industry. Additionally, the annual threat of losing the tax incentive has stunted growth, limiting biodiesel producers’ access to capital and investment, and restricting their ability to expand. With only about seven years of commercial-scale production, biodiesel remains a young and maturing industry that needs stable tax policy to continue meaningful growth.
The biodiesel industry is calling for a multi-year extension of the tax incentive beyond 2013, and we are urging all biodiesel stakeholders to contact their elected officials in Congress to advocate on the industry's behalf.
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.
To contact your U.S. Representative call the House 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.