Black Liquor Credits Still Flowing

These tax credits have been criticized as an unfair subsidy by Canadian and Asian companies and yet, even though the bio-fuel credit for black liquor ended on Jan. 1, 2010, it is the gift that keeps on giving.

Writing under the pseudonym “D. Eadward Tree,” the author of the blog Dead Tree Edition has followed the saga of black liquor tax credits since the beginning. In his most recent commentary—“Cost of New Black Liquor Boondoggle Reaches $1.1 Billion”—Mr. Tree gives us an update and the latest tally.

A dozen publicly traded pulp manufacturers recently reported actual or expected federal Cellulosic Biofuel Producer Credits (CBPC) totaling $1.1 billion in their annual and quarterly reports.

Read the post to find out how International Paper, Packaging Corp. of America, Weyerhauser, Domtar, AbitibiBowater, Appleton, Boise, Graphic Packaging, Glatfelter, NewPage, SAPPI, Smurfit-Stone Container, and Verso all lined their pockets.

Dead Tree Edition also provides other coverage as background:

• U.S. Taxpayers' Black Liquor Tab Surpasses $30 Billion
• How Democrats Helped Finance the Tea Party With Black Liquor
• Blame It On the (Black) Liquor, And Other Tales From A Strange Family of Tax Credits

Suffice it to say, that if there is a loophole to be found, there is someone (or more) lined up to take full advantage of it.