Brown: House passes plan to boost sale of renewable fuels

Huron Daily Tribune
Published: Tuesday, December 9, 2008 11:24 AM EST

LANSING — Lawmakers voted last week for a plan that will encourage the use and production of renewable fuels in Michigan by providing a tax credit to gas station owners who upgrade or purchase new pumps and tanks that sell ethanol or biodiesel fuel.

“Making renewable fuels available to more consumers statewide will increase Thumb-area farmers’ profits and help protect and create jobs right here in our communities,” said State Rep. Terry Brown (D-Pigeon), a member of both the House Agriculture Committee and the Energy and Technology Committee, in a statement last week. “By enabling more gas station owners to provide homegrown ethanol and biodiesel at their pumps, we can also break our dependence on foreign oil more quickly. Expanding our use of renewable fuels is critical to ensuring that our farmers prosper, our economy becomes more diverse and our country increases its security and independence.”

The plan passed by the House will create a business tax credit beginning in 2009 for service station owners who install new renewable fuel delivery systems, according to a press release issued last week by the Michigan Democratic Communications Office. The credit would be available over the next three years, and would be limited to $1 million overall and $20,000 per taxpayer.

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