Producers seek help to save biodiesel industry

Bloomington, Ill.-The Illinois Soybean Association and Illinois biodiesel producers are calling upon Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., to waste no time getting the biodiesel tax credit reinstated to save thousands of jobs lost since the credit lapsed Jan. 1. According to the National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel production has ground to a halt and more than 29,000 people are already out of work. In Illinois, most biodiesel production facilities are running at reduced capacities, idled, or shut down. “The tax credit needs to be included to protect the Illinois biodiesel industry, its employees, and thousands of green collar jobs nationwide,” declared Mike Cunningham, a Vermillion County farmer and ISA vice chairman. “We once had a thriving renewable fuels industry here. This is a lose-lose proposition for our state and our nation.” The appeal came after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced drastic changes to the bipartisan jobs bill, removing the biodiesel tax credit extension and other energy provisions from the HIRE legislation. “The biodiesel tax credit in the jobs bill is the only option being considered that will guarantee that workers can be put back to work the day after it is signed into law,” said Dan Farney, a Morton farmer. “Illinois biodiesel plants are laying off more green collar employees every day that the tax credit is allowed to go unsigned. This just adds to our nation’s and state’s unemployment problems.”