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Congress Considers Legislation Extension To Boost Renewable Fuels, Safeguard Jobs
Pending legislation also decreases dependence of foreign oil, improves air quality

The Ohio Corn Growers Association (OCGA) is urging lawmakers to approve the recently introduced Renewable Fuels Reinvestment Act, which will help the country decrease its dependence on foreign oil and protect up to 160,000 important jobs nationwide.

Reps. Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., and John Shimkus, R-Ill. introduced H.R. 4940, the Renewable Fuels Reinvestment Act, to Congress March 25. Among other items, the legislation would extend the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC), also known as the blender’s tax credit, for another five years. OCGA Executive Director Dwayne Siekman praised Rep. Marcy Kaptur, R-Ohio, for co-sponsoring the bill currently in Congress, and urged other lawmakers to support its passage.

Because of corn ethanol and other renewable fuels’ benefits to the economy, energy and the environment, lawmakers approved the tax credit in 2004 as part of the JOBS Creation Act. The tax credit provided a $.51-per-gallon payment to gasoline refiners for blending ethanol into the gasoline supply, until the 2008 Farm Bill reduced the credit to $.45 per gallon. The credit is scheduled to expire Dec. 31, 2010.

• Lawmakers passed the act, including VEETC, because it reflects good public policy that provides a tremendous return on its investment, Siekman said. It stimulates Ohio’s economy with jobs, makes fuel cheaper for consumers and is essential to achieving the requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard that was enacted in the Energy and Security Act of 2007, which states that the U.S. must use 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022. 
   
• Failure to renew the VEETC would be devastating to agriculture, the ethanol industry and rural communities.

“We want Ohio’s federal legislators to realize the importance of this vital extension,” Siekman said. “At a time when Ohio's unemployment rate is almost 11 percent, corn ethanol provides meaningful investment and jobs to our state.”

Today's economic data and studies overwhelmingly prove the positive contributions of renewable fuels and the disingenuousness of arguments raised by Big Oil and the Grocery Manufacturers Association. 

“We will tirelessly campaign on behalf of this critical extension in the coming months,” said Siekman.  

Action Needed:

Congress needs to support the Renewable Fuels Reinvestmant Act. Use the form below to find and contact your representative.