USW members to lobby Congress over tax relief for struggling paper industry

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.examiner.com/x-2071-DC-Special-Interests-Examiner~y2009m5d4-USW-members-to-lobby-Congress-over-tax-relief-for-struggling-paper-industry?cid=exrss-DC-Special-Interests-Examiner

Members of the United Steelworkers Union will lobby members of the Senate Finance Committee, House Ways and Means Committee and their congressional representatives and senators the next three weeks about the need to retain the alternative fuel mixture tax credit for the U.S. paper industry.

"We believe this is a long-overdue credit for an industry that is the leader in the use of renewable energy," said USW International President Leo W. Gerard. "The paper sector has invested millions of dollars in recovery boilers and other technologies that use renewable fuels derived from biomass and even sells excess energy generated back to the power grid. This credit allows the industry to play a vital role in our country's transformation to clean energy."

The tax credit originated from a 2007 tax law change that expanded eligibility for a 50 cents-per-gallon alternative fuels mixture credit to liquid fuels derived from biomass, including the wood pulp "black liquor" byproduct. Companies can obtain the credit by mixing alternative fuel with 0.1 percent of a fossil fuel like diesel. There is not a limit as to how much credit can be taken.

The U.S. paper industry produces almost 70 percent of its own power from the wood pulp black liquor byproduct. The industry's contribution toward greenhouse gas from the burning of fossil fuels is lessened by its sustainable forestry practice of planting trees and its use of biomass.

FULL story at link.