A new bill was introduced in the U.S. this week in conjunction with COP21: the Clean Energy Victory Bonds Act of 2015. If passed, it would help the U.S. meet its climate goals. Introduced by Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA), the Act would also create more than 1 million jobs. The Clean Energy Victory Bonds would begin …
Iowa Biodiesel Makers Take to DC
Iowa Biodiesel Board (IBB) members joined their National Biodiesel Board colleagues in lobbying lawmakers to renew and restructure the federal $1-per-gallon credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel. IBB pointed to Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley’s proposal that would correct a loophole in the existing program and save U.S. taxpayers $90 million. “Nowhere is the success of the tax credit more evident …
Biodiesel Leaders Push for Tax Credit Renewal
Biodiesel leaders from across the nation descended on Washington, D.C., to push lawmakers to renew the federal $1-a-gallon biodiesel tax credit. The National Biodiesel Board points out producers have been without the credit for all of 2015, and that’s the fourth time in six years Congress has allowed it to lapse. During the recent National Association of Farm Broadcasting meeting …
Biofuels Groups Blast House Hearing on RFS
Biofuels backers say a U.S. House Science Committee had very little to do with science in regards to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The Congressional committee met on the 10th anniversary of the RFS, and Tom Buis, co-chair of Growth Energy, said the committee has a history of misrepresenting biofuels, relying on misinformation and outright lies to cast a negative …
Iowa Biodiesel Producers Push for Tax Incentive
Iowa biodiesel producers are pushing for a renewal of the federal $1-per-gallon biodiesel tax incentive. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) sent a letter to all members of the Iowa Congressional delegation urging them to pass a multi-year biodiesel tax incentive. “While facing more than a century of uninterrupted subsidies for petroleum, the biodiesel tax incentive has been allowed to …
ABFA Opposes Biodiesel Tax Credit Restructure
A move that extends the federal biodiesel and renewable diesel tax credit for two years, but changes its structure, is finding opposition from at least one biofuels group. The Advanced Biofuels Producers Association opposes an amendment by Sens. Charles Grassley and Maria Cantwell, which would extend the $1-per-gallon federal credit, but would convert the credit from one for blenders (those …
Geothermal Industry
The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) is calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to include geothermal energy in the Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP). In a letter, GEA makes the following suggestions that would allow geothermal power plants to fully be included in CEIP: Include metered MWh generated from geothermal resources or allow states to include geothermal resources if their …
Senate Democrats Propose New Energy Package
A group of Senate Democrats have proposed a new energy bill to promote clean energy. If passed, the legislation would end some subsidies for fossil fuels and close some oil and gas tax loopholes; incentivize clean energy such as solar and wind through grant programs and tax incentives; and encourage carbon capture and sequestration along with continued development of nuclear …
Officials Highlight Need for Stable Energy Policy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released new data showing the cost of wind energy has declined by nearly two-thirds over the last six years according to the report 2014 Wind Technologies Market Report. DOE Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz noted, however, that to keep the momentum going there must be stable energy policy. “With declining costs and continued technological …
Energy Policy Modernization Act Intro’d
U.S. Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-Alas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash) have introduced legislation entitled “The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015,” a bipartisan bill designed to increase the use of renewable energy in the U.S. Karl Gladwell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) noted that the legislation would help America achieve its geothermal potential, “by addressing some of the …