U.S. Rep. John Larson (D-Ct) has had a bill approved that will extend for one year the tax credit for using domestic natural gas as a transportation fuel. The bill provides for a tax credit of 50 cents per gallon-equivalent of compressed or liquefied natural gas when used as a transportation fuel.
This is an important step in continuing the move toward growing the number of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) in the United States because the tax credit was to expire. However, longer-term tax incentives are needed so that companies can plan more than one year in advance.
A trucking company that may be contemplating replacing trucks and fleets burning foreign diesel with those running on domestic natural gas needs to be certain it can plan many years into the future.
Congressman Larson’s press release credited the Pickens Plan by saying:
The legislation is part of a broader plan by businessman T. Boone Pickens to transition more of America’s energy consumption to our own natural gas. Natural gas is an abundant energy in the United States, with 98% of the natural gas we consume being produced in North America. We have more than 100 years of natural gas reserves in the United States. Natural gas is also twice as clean as coal, so it offers significant environmental benefits.
As members of the New Energy Army know, Congressman Larson and the other 126 Republican and Democrats who have co-sponsored the NAT GAS Act – H.R. 1835 – recognize that a long-term program needs to be put in place to provide the foundation for a large-scale effort to jump start an NGV industry in the United States which will provide new jobs, enhance our national security and will help clean up the environment by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.
— The Pickens Team