Illinois Soybean Association Calls on Sen. Durbin to Put 'Green Jobs' Back into the 'Jobs' Bill

The Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) and Illinois biodiesel producers today are calling upon Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) to work quickly with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and other Senate leaders to reinstate the biodiesel tax credit through the first moving piece of legislation available.

"The tax credit needs to be included to protect the Illinois biodiesel industry, its employees and thousands of green collar jobs nationwide," said Mike Cunningham, a Vermillion County farmer and ISA vice chairman who lives near a biodiesel plant.

Yesterday Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) announced drastic changes to the bipartisan jobs bill which removed the biodiesel tax credit extension, which is vital to the downward-spiraling biodiesel industry, and other energy provisions, from the quickly-moving HIRE legislation.

According to the National Biodiesel Board, biodiesel production has ground to a halt and more than 29,000 jobs have already been lost across the industry since the tax credit lapsed on January 1, 2010.

In Illinois, most biodiesel production facilities are running at reduced capacities, idled or shut down.

"We once had a thriving renewable fuels industry here," said Cunningham, who lives in the same county as Danville-based Blackhawk Biofuels, LLC. "This is a 'lose-lose' proposition for our state and our nation."

"The biodiesel tax credit in the jobs bill is the only option being consider that will guarantee that workers can be put back to work the day after it is signed into law," said Dan Farney, an Illinois Soybean Association farmer from Morton who recently attended the National Biodiesel Conference. "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."

"Since Jan. 1 when the biodiesel tax credit was allowed to lapse, the biodiesel marketplace has been in a state of tremendous uncertainty. With an announcement earlier this week that the biodiesel tax credit would move within the jobs bill, our industry began to look forward to returning to a more stabilized marketplace with protection for our green jobs. However, Senator Reid's action yesterday to remove the tax credit from the first-tier jobs bill puts Illinois biodiesel jobs at further risk and creates market upheaval in a downward-spiraling biodiesel industry," said Daniel J. Oh, President and COO at Renewable Energy Group which operates a 45 million gallon per year biodiesel facility in Danville with 27 full-time green collar workers.

The ISA is the statewide organization for Illinois soybean growers. The farmers on its board administer soybean checkoff funds to support research, promotions and educational programs designed to increase demand for Illinois soybeans, as well as administer legislation and membership programs. For more information, please visit www.ilsoy.org.