(NAFB) – National Biodiesel Board CEO Donnell Rehagen submitted testimony to a House Ag Subcommittee hearing on the Renewable Economy in Rural America.

His testimony outlines the contribution of the clean fuels industry in terms of jobs and value-added markets for agricultural goods and environmental health benefits. He says the industry’s clean fuels are made from an increasingly diverse mix of resources, so they “add value to fats, oils, and greases that might otherwise lead to costs for other sectors of the bioeconomy.”

Rehagen also says clean fuel contributes to the bioeconomy by reducing the impacts and costs of carbon and particulate emissions. Biodiesel and renewable diesel immediately and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions in difficult-to-decarbonize transportation sectors. The U.S. biodiesel and renewable diesel industry support 65,000 jobs and more than $17 billion in economic activity every year.

The NBB says its members appreciate the elected officials working in Congress to enact a long-term extension of the biodiesel tax incentive.