New West: Biodiesel still trucking
Newwest.net reports on the effort to pass a Montana biodiesel bill.
The Montana Senate passed a biodiesel 35-15 in February.
Today on Newwest.net, reporter Dan Testa covers the hearing in the Montana Legislature's House Transportation Committee on Senate Bill 432 by Senator John Brueggeman (R-Polson), a bill to kick-start the state's biodiesel industry and help get Montana off foreign oil:
“Why would we not be choosing to use America’s agriculture industry to provide the necessary lubrication and emission goal we want to meet by using biodiesel?” Brueggeman said. “It’s time, I think, that we step up and work as Montanans to create that industry here.”
Farmers, conservation groups and aspiring biodiesel producers lined up to support the bill, saying it would boost economies in Montana’s struggling, rural areas.
“We produce grain that is shipped, at great expense, out-of-state and into the export market without capturing our fair share of its value,” said McCone County farmer Helen Waller. “The bill will help create a stable market for a diversity of crops that can be successfully grown in Montana.”
“A single biodiesel plant in northeast Montana could create 31 permanent jobs in the plant site alone,” Waller added. “Just imagine what one of these plants could do for Circle or Sidney or Glendive.”
