Ethanol and biodiesel tax incentives included in JOBS bill

(Washington, DC) -- Congressman Collin Peterson (D-Minn) on Thursday voted in favor of the JOBS bill, also known as FSC/ETI, because of the ethanol/biodiesel tax incentives that were included as a result of work he and farm state allies did with Republican Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas.

The JOBS bill created a biodiesel tax credit that is ready to be used until 2006 at a rate of $1 per gallon for agriculture use and 50 cents per gallon for non-agriculture. The ethanol exemption was turned into a tax credit and extended until 2010. “We would have preferred that these credits were permanent, but with the stalling of the Energy Bill, this is very good news for Minnesota. It also will be easier to extended these credits now that they are in place,” Peterson said.

Peterson, a long-time supporter of ethanol and biodiesel, introduced a bill earlier this year that would require five billion gallons of renewable fuels like ethanol and biodiesel to be blended with gasoline sold or dispensed in the United States.

“During this Congress, I introduced legislation that would provide tax incentives for the use of biodiesel as fuel and a second bill that would create a program requiring the use of ethanol nationwide, so I was pleased to see that tax credits for ethanol and biodiesel were both included in this bill," Peterson said.

“Minnesota is the only state with a biodiesel requirement already in place, which will put us at an advantage as we implement a renewable fuels standard nationwide.” Peterson said. “The tax incentives mean a wider market for Minnesota’s active and growing ethanol and biodiesel industries.”

Minnesota is the leader in ethanol production and a large producer of biodiesel in the United States.

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