The new year brings talk of new legislation for the ethanol and biodiesel industries.
In this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast, we talk to some of the leaders of the green fuels’ industries, as well as the head of the nation’s largest farm organization, to get their takes on what should be coming from Washington, D.C. as far as ethanol and biodiesel legislation is involved.
Comments include American Farm Bureau Federation President Bob Stallman explaining why his group wants to shift the public money away from the ethanol blender’s credit towards infrastructure, despite the fact that there are many Farm Bureau members who have ethanol interests. Retired General Wesley Clark, who serves as co-chairman of Growth Energy, a group representing ethanol interests, agrees with Stallman’s assessment of moving more money toward infrastructure. Meanwhile, Renewable Fuels Association president and CEO Bob Dinneen says the real focus needs to be on this nation’s energy policy and welcomes the debate. On the biodiesel side of the house, Chairman of the National Biodiesel Board and vice president of sales and marketing for the nation’s largest biodiesel producer, Renewable Energy Group, Gary Haer, says the green fuel enjoyed a Christmas gift with the renewal of the federal one-dollar-a-gallon biodiesel tax incentive, even though it’s set to expire again at the end of this year. And he says getting that incentive renewed is a big priority for the biodiesel industry in the coming year. Haer also talks about how the biodiesel industry needs to work on its image by making sure people know biodiesel is truly an advanced biofuel, available right now. Those efforts are helped by biodiesel’s partner, the United Soybean Board, whose chairman, Marc Curtis, a soybean grower from Mississippi, points out that biodiesel adds 25 cents to the price for every bushel of beans sold.
It’s an interesting conversation, and I’m sure we’ll hear even more during the biodiesel and ethanol industries respective conferences, both going on in Phoenix, Arizona in February. In the meantime, you can hear what these folks are saying about the legislative year to come in this edition of the Domestic Fuel Cast here. Domestic Fuel Cast