Federal incentives for the U.S. ethanol industry are good public policy by every measure of “economic growth, energy security and environmental responsibility,” according to Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, in an opinion column penned for The Hill.
Dinneen makes the case that biofuels offer hope for three major challenges facing the nation – the economy, dependency on foreign oil, and greenhouse gas emissions – and continuing tax incentives will help the industry continue in those efforts. “While American ingenuity and hard work built the biofuels industry, two public policies have helped it succeed,” Dinneen writes. “The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) requires 36 billion gallons of renewable fuels, including at least 16 billion gallons from cellulosic feedstocks, be used in the nation’s fuel supply by 2022. The Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) provides blenders and marketers with a federal tax credit of 45 cents on each gallon of ethanol blended with gasoline.”