Why did a cargo train cross the border 24 times and not unload?

[draco664]

Because under a specific piece of US green energy legislation, "Renewable Identification Numbers" are awarded for importation of biofuels.

These RINs can be sold to oil companies.

Note however, that the imported biofuels do not actually need to be *sold*, just imported. So, the company sent a train full of biofuels back and forth across the border and just raked in the paper money. Somewhat north of 12 million dollars worth of RINs were awarded to this company for precisely no environmental gain.

Link

[HYHYBT]

Not "precisely no environmental gain," even: a negative one.

Credit for imports minus exports would fix that better than requiring the product be sold, as it could be used by the company that imported it.

[Greenday]

The greatest part is that the owner of the company doesn't even deny what they did, they just said it's not fraud. Fantastic.

[s_stabeler]

it's hairsplitting, but the owner is right- Fraud would be making up fictitious RINs.

As for requiring the fuel be sold or deducting exports, Im not sure it really matters. The important point is to outlaw this tactic.

[Andara Bledin]

As stated, while it's exploiting a loophole (a massive, inexcusable loophole), the owner made no false statements about what they were doing, so it's not fraud.

This is the sort of shit that happens when you push through measures for the purpose of "doing something" without actually taking the time to craft them properly.

^-.-^

[PepperElf]

what's funny is that they can do that and rake in the $$$

but if you put biofuel in your diesel car you can get fined for not paying the sales tax on it.

[Panacea]

what's funny is that they can do that and rake in the $$$

but if you put biofuel in your diesel car you can get fined for not paying the sales tax on it.

Where'd THAT happen? That doesn't make a lot of sense if you're making your own biofuel, which many people do.

[protege]

That doesn't make a lot of sense if you're making your own biofuel, which many people do.

With that, I'm not sure how they'd regulate it. I know a guy who owns a restaurant...and uses the cooking oil/grease to run his diesel Mercedes. You can tell when he's in the area--the air suddenly smells like french fries But seriously, he does pay sales tax on the oil/grease when it's originally purchased...and I'm sure he pays again on whatever equipment he uses to remove impurities from it as well as the tanks used to store it.

[wolfie]

With that, I'm not sure how they'd regulate it. I know a guy who owns a restaurant...and uses the cooking oil/grease to run his diesel Mercedes. You can tell when he's in the area--the air suddenly smells like french fries But seriously, he does pay sales tax on the oil/grease when it's originally purchased...and I'm sure he pays again on whatever equipment he uses to remove impurities from it as well as the tanks used to store it.

But none of those things he's paid ordinary sales tax on include the excise tax applied to on-road fuel.

[HYHYBT]

But none of those things he's paid ordinary sales tax on include the excise tax applied to on-road fuel.

Exactly.... and the purpose of the fuel tax is to build and maintain roads, the thinking being that the more fuel you burn, near enough the more you're using roads, which is a lot more convenient for everybody than having tollbooths everywhere.

That's why heating oil is less than diesel fuel. They're the same stuff, near enough, but you aren't allowed to burn the former in vehicles. (My grandfather did it anyway for a while in the 80's, simply because when his furnace died he replaced it with a gas one and had a largish tank of the fuel left over with nothing else to do with it but put it in the Volkswagen... but he didn't keep having the tank filled *to* use that way; it was strictly disposing of leftovers.)

[draco664]

Exactly.... and the purpose of the fuel tax is to build and maintain roads, the thinking being that the more fuel you burn, near enough the more you're using roads, which is a lot more convenient for everybody than having tollbooths everywhere.

Except for the government. Because when people start buying more fuel-efficient cars, the revenues from the fuel tax drops.

And we can't have that.

Putting on my cynical-realist hat, I will willingly bet a moderate amount that, if it hasn't happened somewhere yet, then soon some government will propose putting a tax or levy on those cars to make up the shortfall in revenue.

[s_stabeler]

to be fair, the government isn't exactly running a surplus, so yes, eventually, something will need to replace the lost revenue from the fuel tax.

as for a levy on these cars, possibly, but tax is ultimately an instrument of policy.policy being to encourage use of more fuel-efficient cars, it's more likely that the tax on fuel will be increased.

[draco664]

to be fair, the government isn't exactly running a surplus

You have a real gift for understatement.

[HYHYBT]

No, for some reason when the government *was* running a surplus that got treated as a problem, rather than as a chance to catch up a little on debts already accumulated.

[wolfie]

Exactly.... and the purpose of the fuel tax is to build and maintain roads, the thinking being that the more fuel you burn, near enough the more you're using roads, which is a lot more convenient for everybody than having tollbooths everywhere.

That's why heating oil is less than diesel fuel. They're the same stuff, near enough, but you aren't allowed to burn the former in vehicles.

And it's the same reason pumps at truck stops ask if you want tractor fuel, reefer fuel, or both (and why one Quebec-based carrier has a separate fuel tank for the APUs on their trucks). Because a reefer unit or an APU doesn't provide the power to move the truck down the road, they can legally use "reefer fuel" (diesel without the on-road excise tax). You might hear a lot about natural gas being a cheaper way to run trucks than diesel - that could vanish in an instant, because most of the savings are due to natural gas not being subject to the on-road excise tax.