A group of U.S. Senators including Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Al Franken (D-MN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined the National Biodiesel Board on Wednesday to release the results of a national survey highlighting uncertainty in the biodiesel industry as a result of policy setbacks in Washington this year.

The survey found that nearly 80 percent of U.S. biodiesel producers have scaled back production this year and more than half have idled production at a plant altogether. Additionally, two-thirds of producers said they have already reduced or anticipate reducing their workforce as a result of the downturn.

The senators are calling on the Administration to help restore stability to the industry by boosting the EPA’s 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) proposal for biodiesel while urging Congress to reinstate the biodiesel tax incentive. Senators Voice Biodiesel Concerns

Also speaking at the event were North Dakota soybean farmer Terry Goerger; Renewable Energy Group plant manager Bryan Christjansen; Jeff Haas, CEO of General Biodiesel in Seattle; and Wayne Presby, owner of White Mountain Biodiesel in North Haverhill, N.H.

“This uncertainty is bad for producers, it’s bad for agriculture, it’s extremely bad for investors, it’s bad for the environment, and it’s particularly bad for those of us who took cues from Congress and the Administration and made the commitments to build a U.S. renewable fuels future,” said Goerger. Biodiesel Industry Concerns