Doggett dogs Big Oil’s tax credit

Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, plans to introduce a bill today to reverse an IRS ruling allowing oil companies to claim a $1-a-gallon renewable diesel tax credit by adding animal fat to traditional refining processes.

{mosads}The IRS’s ruling has the potential to raise significantly the cost of the renewable diesel tax credit, which then-House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) added to the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to benefit a company in his district that produced diesel fuel from turkey offal.

The National Biodiesel Board, whose members produce biodiesel from soybean and canola oils, opposed the IRS ruling, fearing oil companies would siphon off their own federal support for renewable-fuels production.

Doggett’s news release said the credit was designed to encourage production of “clean-burning, biodegradable diesel fuel
that is fully independent of petroleum products.”