Michael Shuman will be speaking about localism on February 1st in downtown Phoenix, this is sure to be an interesting talk. He will also be in Tucson on the February 2nd at the UA Student Union at 6:30 in the Santa Rita room.

Below is a note from AZ BioDiesel owner Dan Rees about the federal tax incentive that expired this January. AZ BioDiesel is a local Arizona biodiesel producer that makes their fuel from 100% locally sourced waste vegetable oil.

Hi Everyone,

Az BioDiesel is still alive and producing for now without the $1 a gallon federal biodiesel tax credit.

It will hopefully be passed by Feb/March and be retroactive to Jan 1st but there are no guarantees.

For now, we (AZ BioDiesel) can afford to “weather the storm” and wait until the end of January to see if the tax credit will come back anytime soon.

Most plants around the country unfortunately, have closed or severely reduced production as they can’t weather a long wait to get the tax credit dollars.

The word is that if congress doesn’t get around to it before Feb, most of the industry will close and many may not be able to reopen. 29,000+ jobs will be lost very soon. Congress came back Jan 20th from their holiday break. Health care was still taking priority to anything else when they started.

Our industry is the victim of congress’ focus on health care and not having time to pass the biodiesel tax credit extension which helps biodiesel to be competitively priced to the already subsidized petroleum fuels.

Several senators (Dem & Rep) have sent letters to President Obama to get the extension passed quickly but, no answer yet.

Some are saying that Big Oil is behind this. The EPA was going to pass (this Feb) it’s new alt fuel standards which, for the first time, would include a national minimum requirement for 1 billion gallons of biodiesel to get the industry on its feet and growing. The EPA now is saying they may just give the 1 billion gallons to the ethanol industry to add to the minimum requirement they already have since they don’t believe the biodiesel industry can now live up to the new requirement.

Another win for Big Oil and their support of ethanol! The alternative fuel (ethanol) that isn’t a threat to the future of replacing petroleum oil.

It really concerns me that President Obama had the nerve recently to tout the $2.3 billion he gave out to create new forms of energy and add 17,000 jobs while he knows that the biodiesel industry is about to lose 29,000+ jobs and already can produce new energy but no one in congress or the white house seems to care. You’ll notice very little press about the loss of the biodiesel tax credit and it’s potential to bankrupt this industry even if they get around to passing an extension later in the year.

Please help save the biodiesel industry by going to this link and sending emails to our congressmen:

Your Help Is Needed to Reinstate the Biodiesel Tax Incentive
http://www.biodiesel.org/news/taxcredit/default.shtm

With your help, this industry can survive!!!

Thanks,
Dan Rees, AZ BioDiesel

DATE: Nov. 24, 2009
CONTACT: Mark Shaffer, Director of Communications, (602) 771-2215
ADEQ Urges Proper Disposal of Turkey Grease Through Recycling Rather than Pouring it Down The Drain
PHOENIX – (Nov. 24, 2009) – Don’t listen to any of the traditional gobbledygook when it comes to disposing of turkey grease after your Thanksgiving Day feast.
Pouring the grease down the drain clogs the pipes of many homes along with causing wastewater blockages and overflows in municipalities. There are environmentally conscious alternatives to disposal that not only protect wastewater infrastructure but can also help clean the air.
“Just say no to clogs and yes to turkey grease recycling,” said Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Benjamin H. Grumbles. “Thankfully, more households, businesses, and communities are seeing green by keeping fats, waste vegetable oils, and greases out of drains and sewers and converting them into clean-burning biodiesel fuel easily and cheaply.”
Arizona offers several venues for grease collection that will ensure it is used locally for the production of clean burning fuel.
The Town of Gilbert and Az Biodiesel group are partnering to collect the grease through Monday, Dec. 7 at eight Gilbert fire stations located at the following addresses: 215 N. Cooper Road, 2730 E. Williams Field Road, 2855 E. Guadalupe Road, 1011 E. Guadalupe Road, 909 E. Ray Road, 3630 E. Germann Road, 1095 E. Germann Road and 3595 E. Warner Road.
In the Town of Cave Creek, Dynamite Biofuels Co-op is partnering with Big Earl’s Greasy Eats Restaurant, 6135 E. Cave Creek Road, and is offering a bin for grease collection daily from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday during the holiday season.
In Tucson, the Tucson Clean Cities Coalition, Pima County Regional Wastewater Reclamation Department and the recycling group Grecycle will be sponsoring a grease disposal drive on Friday, Nov. 27 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. at O’Reilly Chevrolet, 6160 E. Broadway; Pima County Industrial Wastewater Control Plant, 5025 W. Ina Road; and the City of Tucson Water Plant #2, 1102 W. Irvington Road.

Have a vision for our clean energy future? Students (grads or undergrad) here is your opportunity to prove it! MIT is holding a clean energy business plan competition with a grand prize of $200,000. This will be a great opportunity to get a tremendous amount of attention on your brilliant ideas! Head over to http://www.mitcep.org/ to find out more.

This is a guest post by longtime AzSustainability fan Tomas Carrillo.

Greetings AZSustainability readers. I’ve been in the trenches for the
last few weeks putting the finishing touches on Arizona’s first ever
TEDxPhoenix event which is scheduled to take place this Friday,
November 6th from 6pm to 9pm at the Mesa Arts Center.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with TEDxPhoenix, it’s been
described as a Cirque du Soleil for the mind. Our inaugural event
will feature six of Arizona’s leading experts brought together to
enlighten, inspire, and entertain via ideas worth spreading. For fans
of the environment and sustainability, we are excited to announce that
Urban Farm founder and sustainability guru, Greg Peterson, will be
speaking at the event.

TEDxPhoenix is also a place where you can meet individuals who are
interested in leveraging ideas, technology, education, and design to
help create a better future for the Phoenix-metro communities and
beyond. For more information about the event, I highly recommend
checking out our TEDxPhoenix
Beginners Guide.

I really hope you will join us this Friday, and here are all the event
details for your viewing pleasure:

• Homepage: www.tedxphoenix.com
• Event Date & Time: Friday, November 6th,
  2009 from 6pm to 9pm
• Location: Mesa Arts Center – Google
  Map
• Tickets: $5 – Get your tickets
  here

Sincerely,
~Tomas

Post Scriptum: TEDxPhoenix is a local and independently organized
event operated under license from TED. TED rocks, if you don’t
believe me, check out one of our favorite videos below:

(*Feed subscribers, please visit the blog post if the video
doesn’t appear.)