April 30, 2010
Grassley Co-sponsors Bill to Extend Policies for Ethanol Production (Wallaces Farmer)
Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is co-sponsoring an ethanol bill that was introduced in the U.S. Senate last week which he says is designed to build America's energy security and create jobs. Grassley, a Republican, says this is a bipartisan bill, which he has authored with Sen. Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota. Grassley says, "Our bill would extend four policies for ethanol production through the year 2015 including the ethanol excise tax credit. The bill also includes a tax credit for small ethanol producers, a tax credit for cellulosic producers and an ethanol import tariff." He says corn-based ethanol fuel has become a vital, renewable energy source that plays an important role in the economies of Iowa and other Midwest states and the nation.
Don't make same mistake on ethanol Congress made on biodiesel
"In Iowa we know biofuels offer a viable alternative to foreign oil and they generate economic activity in the United States," says Grassley. "Today, ethanol makes up almost 10% of the U.S. fuel supply." He doesn't want to see the same mistake made with ethanol that Congress made with biodiesel. Congress let the biodiesel tax credit expire at the end of 2009. That fiasco has led to the closure or partial shutdown of many biodiesel plants in the U.S. and has cost 29,000 jobs by putting people out of work in the biodiesel industry. Allowing the biodiesel tax credit to expire has also put another 23,000 jobs at risk. Grassley says Congress can't risk a repeat with ethanol. "A recent independent study found that the failure to extend the ethanol tax credit and the tariff on ethanol imports into the U.S. would result in the loss of about 112,000 jobs nationwide and would reduce U.S. ethanol production by about 40%," notes Grassley. "Iowa would lose the most jobs, nearly 30,000." He says ethanol is good for America's rural economy and it replaces oil that would otherwise be imported from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Venezuela.
Iowa would lose most jobs, nearly 30,000 if ethanol tax credit expires
Called the "Green Jobs Act of 2010," the legislation seeks a...
