Exporting Ethanol & Biodiesel Tax Credit

Exporting Ethanol & Biodiesel Tax Credit. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. The long-delayed bid to restore the biodiesel tax credit that expired in December faces key hurdles in the House and Senate in the run up to the Congressional Memorial Day holiday recess. The House was planning this week to take up a tax extenders bill that includes a one-year biodiesel tax credit extension - retroactive to December. But National Biodiesel Board spokesman Michael Frohlich says the House and Senate had yet to agree on offsetting cuts to pay for continuing the tax breaks. FROHLICH: What we're seeing right now is that an energy policy that has broad bi-partisan support is caught up in a larger bill with some big differences, the possibilities of going into some deficit spending and that obviously raises some concern with a number of members on both sides of the aisle. The Renewable Fuels Association has released a report that confirms the United States is quickly evolving into a net exporter of ethanol. The report - the Paradox of Rising U.S. Ethanol Exports - states that as long as domestic ethanol usage is restricted by the regulatory limitation of 10-percent blends - the U.S. ethanol industry will be forced to look to the global marketplace for new demand sources. As a result - the report continues - Americans will miss out on the opportunity for greater fuel savings and a healthier, more secure domestic energy supply. Now here's today's Washington Grange Report. (GRANGE) That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.