Special Report
Jobe: biodiesel industry needs incentives
The CEO of the National Biodiesel Board hopes for federal help in the form of tax incentives to get the industry moving again.
Joe Jobe says the lack of federal tax incentives since the beginning of the year has stalled the biodiesel industry in the U.S.
“That is resulting in [biodiesel] plants shutting down, laying off workers, some of those plants are not going to be able to survive and come back on line,” Jobe told Brownfield following his address to open the National Biodiesel Conference in Dallas.
Jobe is heartened, however, that at least there’s a feeling among key lawmakers that something should be done.
“The top tax writing senators have said it’s a priority,” said Jobe, referring to Baucus and Grassley, who lead the Senate Finance Committee, “so we’re in about as good a position as we can be in to get something moving, get it done sooner rather than later.”
Although soybeans are still the primary U.S. biodiesel feedstock, the industry has become diverse. Jobe says soybean growers realize that it takes all of agriculture to keep the biodiesel industry going.
“And so they’re not intimidated by growth, by new feedstock development,” said Jobe, “because they know if there is a growing, healthy, sustainable biodiesel industry in the United States, soybean farmers are going to benefit, period.”
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