Less than a week before the inauguration, the American Soybean Association (ASA) has given President-elect Barack Obama a list of its 2009 policy priorities… and biodiesel tops that list.
This press release from the soybean advocacy group has details:
“ASA looks forward to working closely with the Obama Administration to achieve these policy priorities, which not only make sense for soybean farmers, but also benefit our entire country through reduced dependence on foreign oil, job creation, increased U.S. exports and a modernized infrastructure system,” said ASA President Johnny Dodson, a soybean producer from Halls, Tenn.
Highlights of ASA’s priorities as submitted to the Obama Administration are as follows:
● Biodiesel: ASA’s top policy priority for 2009 is long-term enactment of the biodiesel tax credit before it expires on December 31, 2009. The biodiesel tax incentive and Bioenergy Program payments make U.S. biodiesel producers more competitive with petroleum-based diesel and with biodiesel imports, which benefit from foreign government subsidies. Biodiesel production reduces U.S. dependence on foreign oil while creating jobs and demand for homegrown renewable soybean oil.
The group is also supporting regulations for biodiesel that pay on all gallons, not just incremental production, under the Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels.