Super committee failure: what it means for biodiesel

The congressional super committee announced that it would fail to meet the Nov. 23 deadline to agree on a bipartisan plan to cut federal spending and reduce the national deficit. For the biodiesel and other advanced biofuel industries, the question is, how does this impact the possibility of extending the various federal tax credits scheduled to sunset at the end of this year?

“While we’re disappointed just like everyone else that an agreement couldn’t be reached, this does clear the decks in a way for Congress to focus on other things, including efforts to create jobs by extending targeted tax incentives such as the biodiesel tax credit,” said Ben Evans, the director of federal communications for the National Biodiesel Board. President of the Advanced Biofuels Association Michael McAdams said, however, that most people were hoping to attach the extenders to the super committee effort. “We didn't expect that the super committee would produce any significant tax reform or tax extenders package,” Evans said, “so it doesn't come as a surprise that they failed to address that area.”

According to McAdams, the question now is, “How do you do an extenders package with no vehicle? Do you simply deficit finance it? That would be politically awkward following the public failure to reach a deficit deal. Or do you come up with offsets and try and move certain pieces to spur the economy?”

That, however, would be “like a drunk leaving his first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting and going straight to a bar, and trying to pay for a drink with his newly passed ‘One Day at a Time’ medal,” McAdams added. “On the serious side, it will be interesting to see if the Republicans will take the model from the president to do things like the payroll tax deduction and pass before they adjourn. The continuing resolution will have to be extended after Dec. 16—that’s all that is left.”