AND...as one of the coFacilitators of this group, I heartily concur. ��Political action in the realm of ALTERNATIVE ENERGY is VERY appropriate. ��I would be disappointed in anything less. ��MaryLou Benigno
On Fri, Jan 22, 2010 at 10:04 PM, Brad Biddle
<[address removed]> wrote:
All -- at the risk of violating my own suggested rule of avoiding politics, but under the assumption that the direct alt energy relevance trumps here, I wanted to alert you to a message from Dan Rees that
we posted on our Desert Biofuels Initiative blog.�� Link and pasted text
below. I've cc'd Dan on this note ([address removed]).
http://desertbiofuels.blogspot.com/2010/01/dan-rees-az-biodiesel-on-biodiesel-tax.html
Dan Rees of AZ Biodiesel sent us the following note about the dire
situation facing biodiesel producers due to the unexpected non-renewal
of the biodiesel tax credit. While there are criticisms that can be
levied against the credit program (e.g. at DBI we're unenthusiastic
about the virgin soy-based biofuel that can benefit from the credit),
the fact is that elimination of the credit will be devastating to local
businesses like AZ Biodiesel, Amereco and AZ Green Dining Network that
use waste vegetable oils (restaurant grease) to create clean-burning
biodiesel. This local waste grease model precisely embodies our vision
of
sustainable regional biofuels,
and a setback for a company like AZ Biodiesel would be a major blow to
the development of a sustainable biofuels infrastructure in Arizona.
Please give Dan's message careful consideration, and note his call to
action near the bottom of his message.
Your Help Is Needed to Reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Incentive
Hi Everyone,
Az BioDiesel is still alive and producing for now without the $1 a gallon federal biodiesel tax credit.
It will hopefully be passed by Feb/March and be retroactive to Jan 1st but there are no guarantees.
For
now, we (AZ BioDiesel) can afford to "weather the storm" and wait until
the end of January to see if the tax credit will come back anytime soon.
Most
plants around the country unfortunately, have closed or severely
reduced production as they can't weather a long wait to get the tax
credit dollars.
The word is that if congress doesn't get around
to it before Feb, most of the industry will close and many may not be
able to reopen. 29,000+ jobs will be lost very soon. Congress came back
Jan 20th from their holiday break. Health care was still taking
priority to anything else when they started.
Our industry is the
victim of congress' focus on health care and not having time to pass
the biodiesel tax credit extension which helps biodiesel to be
competitively priced to the already subsidized petroleum fuels.
Several senators (Dem & Rep) have sent letters to President Obama to get the extension passed quickly but, no answer yet.
Some
are saying that Big Oil is behind this. The EPA was going to pass (this
Feb) it's new alt fuel standards which, for the first time, would
include a national minimum requirement for 1 billion gallons of
biodiesel to get the industry on its feet and growing. The EPA now is
saying they may just give the 1 billion gallons to the ethanol industry
to add to the minimum requirement they already have since they don't
believe the biodiesel industry can now live up to the new requirement.
Another
win for Big Oil and their support of ethanol! The alternative fuel
(ethanol) that isn't a threat to the future of replacing petroleum oil.
It
really concerns me that President Obama had the nerve recently to tout
the $2.3 billion he gave out to create new forms of energy and add
17,000 jobs while he knows that the biodiesel industry is about to lose
29,000+ jobs and already can produce new energy but no one in congress
or the white house seems to care. You'll notice very little press about
the loss of the biodiesel tax credit and it's potential to bankrupt
this industry even if they get around to passing an extension later in
the year.
Please help save the biodiesel industry by going to this link and sending emails to our congressmen:
Your Help Is Needed to Reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Incentive
http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxcredit/default.shtm
With your help, this industry can survive!!!
Thanks,
Dan Rees, AZ BioDiesel
--
Brad Biddle |[masked] | [address removed] |
http://biddle.us
--
Please Note: If you hit "REPLY", your message will be sent to everyone on this mailing list ([address removed])
This message was sent by Brad Biddle ([address removed]) from The Phoenix Alternative Energy Meetup Group.
To learn more about Brad Biddle, visit his/her member profile
To unsubscribe or to update your mailing list settings, click here
Meetup Inc. PO Box 4668 #37895 New York, New York[masked] | [address removed]