Dear ASA Members & Supporters:

The Biodiesel Tax Incentive expired on December 31, 2009. ASA is asking you to contact your Senators and Representative to urge them to cosponsor and act swiftly to retroactively extend the Biodiesel Tax Incentive. A study last year found that soy biodiesel production supports higher soybean prices paid to farmers by over 25 cents per bushel. On a 3.3 billion bushel U.S. crop, that’s a potential loss of $825 million in farm income.

ASA and a group of biodiesel stakeholder recently sent letters to the Leadership of the House and Senate, as well as the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the tax writing committees, regarding the urgent need to retroactively extend the biodiesel tax incentive.

The letters note, among other things, "expiration of the tax incentive has essentially caused the production and use of biodiesel in the U.S. to cease and has placed the 23,000 jobs that are currently supported by the domestic biodiesel industry in immediate jeopardy. Companies have already started laying-off employees, and this situation is certain to worsen the longer the tax incentive is allowed to lapse."

The one dollar per gallon biodiesel tax incentive is structured in a manner that makes biodiesel price competitive with petroleum diesel fuel in the marketplace.  Absent the tax incentive, biodiesel is more expensive than conventional diesel fuel.

ASA urges you to continue pressing your Senators and Representative for quick action to extend the biodiesel tax incentive as soon as possible. If your Senators or Representative are not already included on the cosponsors list below, please contact them today.

Click here to contact your Senators: www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm  

Click here to contact your Representative: http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/index.html

Or call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard today at (202) 224-3121.

Cosponsors as of today: