Today, Rep. Cindy Axne (IA-03) issued the following statement after the newly released text of the Build Back Better Act included key investments that support expanded availability and use of renewable fuels.
These investments are projected to put at least $400 million into the pockets of Iowa farmers.
“Not only does the Build Back Better Act represent the largest investment in clean energy and combating climate change ever – it also confirms that my colleagues have listened to my central argument in our clean energy discussions: biofuels can and should be a part of our fight against climate change,” said Rep. Axne. “For months, I have been helping members of the administration, the Senate, and my own colleagues in the House understand the key advantages of biofuels – from the fact that it’s been proven to be more than twice as clean as fossil fuels to how much it can help the economies of states like Iowa. And now I will continue working to get these investments to the President’s desk.”
The updated draft text of the Build Back Better Act includes:
- $1 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide grants over the next 10 years to expand biofuel pump infrastructure, upgrade existing tanks and pumps, and increase usage of higher blends of ethanol and biodiesel.
- That investment is double the amount originally proposed by Axne in her Renewable Fuels Infrastructure Investment and Market Expansion Act, which she introduced in March.
- A four year extension of the biodiesel tax credit, which was set to set to expire at the end of 2022 after being revived in December 2019 by Rep. Axne and her colleagues.
- In May, Rep. Axne introduced bipartisan legislation to extend the biodiesel tax credit for three years.
- A new tax credit to support the creation and usage of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, opening a new and growing market for Iowa biofuels and biodiesel.
Rep. Axne has emphasized both in public and private for months that biofuels investments are a key priority for her in any infrastructure agenda.
In April, Axne urged relevant House committee chairs to include biofuels investments in infrastructure discussions.
Since that letter, Axne has met with dozens of House colleagues – including the committee chairs charged with agriculture, tax, and climate policies – to make the case for biofuels.
In August, Axne again laid out the reasons to invest in biofuels to her House and Senate colleagues – penning an open letter with her Midwestern colleagues to emphasize how renewable fuels would help reduce carbon emissions and reliance on fossil fuels.
Original source can be found here
