ONTARIO, NY (AP) -- Sen. Charles Schumer will be in Wayne and Cayuga counties this afternoon to talk about tax breaks for the biodiesel industry.
The Northern Biodiesel plant in Ontario is the only fully operational biodiesel plant in New York but several more are in the works. Schumer says the fledgling industry could crumble because a dollar-a-gallon tax credit to promote biodiesel expired at the end of 2009.
The National Biodiesel Board says 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.
Senators Max Baucus of Montana Charles Grassley of Iowa have proposed legislation restoring the tax credit.
Biodiesel is made from soybean oil and waste grease.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
