Dear ASA Members & Supporters:

ASA is asking you to contact your Senators to put biodiesel jobs back in the Jobs Bill! Please urge your Senators to contact Senate leadership to put the biodiesel tax incentive back in the first Jobs Bill the Senate considers to save the jobs of 23,000 people working in the biodiesel industry. The biodiesel tax incentive had been included in a version of the Senate Jobs Bill unveiled last week by Senators Max Baucus (D-MT) and Chuck Grassley (R-IA), but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) later stripped the biodiesel and other tax provisions out of the bill.

It is imperative that the biodiesel tax extension be included in the first jobs bill that proceeds through the Senate. The timing and outcome of future legislative vehicles is very uncertain and further delays in the extension of the credit will cripple the biodiesel industry. The biodiesel tax credit has as much or more direct impact on jobs than any of the other measures under consideration.

Expiration of the biodiesel tax incentive on December 31, 2009, 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.

Production of biodiesel, a homegrown renewable fuel, also supports higher prices paid to farmers for their soybeans, which contributes additional employment opportunities in both urban and rural communities. 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.

Again, ASA urges you to press your Senators to save biodiesel jobs by including a retroactive extension of the biodiesel tax incentive in the first Jobs Bill that moves through the Senate. Please contact them today.

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