Pushing GREEN

Pushing GREEN. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. Our energy future seems to be teetering on the edge of a razor. Dependence on foreign oil must come to an end. Capitol Hill has been buzzing now for some time with a myriad of ideas. Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Kent Conrad of North Dakota have introduced the Grow Renewable Energy from Ethanol Naturally Jobs Act of 2010. The GREEN Jobs Act would extend four ethanol policies through 2015 GRASSLEY: The four points would be to extend the excise tax credit which is also known as the blender's credit, the small ethanol producer's tax credit, the cellulosic producer's tax credit and the ethanol import tariff. Grassley says extending these policies is the right thing to do because biofuels offer an alternative to foreign oil while generating economic activity in the U.S GRASSLEY: Today ethanol makes up almost 10% of our U.S. fuel supply. It obviously replaces oil from Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria. Ethanol is also good for rural economies. We had a recent independent study finding that the failure to extend this tax credit and the secondary tariff would result in the loss of about 112-thousand jobs nationwide and reduce ethanol production by nearly 40%. Grassley says what's happened as a result of failure to extend the biodiesel tax credit – which expired at the end of 2009 – should be a lesson to Congress. GRASSLEY: Because it expired at the end of 2009, it's cost 29-thousand clean energy jobs and put 23-thousand more at risk and I don't think we can risk a repeat performance because there's 112-thousand jobs at stake with ethanol. The legislation is cosponsored by Senators John Thune and Tim Johnson of South Dakota; and Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns of Nebraska. Companion legislation already exists in the House. It was introduced by Representatives Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota and John Shimkus of Illinois. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.