Calling all Green Americans!

An alternative fuels credit should be a good thing, right? Using taxpayer money to discourage consumption of fossil fuels should ultimately bring benefits back to all of us--unless, of course, there is a loophole.

To our great dismay, our Better Paper Project program director Frank Locantore has discovered that the conventional paper industry is

exploiting the alternative fuels credit to actually INCREASE their fossil fuel consumption, using billions of dollars of taxpayer money to support some of the paper industry's most wasteful and polluting practices.

Stop your taxpayer money from rewarding corporate polluters »

It works like this: For years, conventional paper companies have produced a thick, dirty liquid byproduct known as "black liquor" which is a waste product leftover when virgin wood is pulped to make paper. This "black liquor" can be burned for fuel.

On its own, the "black liquor" gets no tax break. But the alternative fuels credit encourages businesses to cut down their fossil fuel use by mixing their fossil fuels with "alternative fuels." Since "black liquor" technically qualifies as an "alternative fuel," the paper companies have started mixing diesel (a fossil fuel) into the waste they were already burning – and receiving a 50-cent-per-gallon tax credit for it.

In other words, they're doing the exact opposite of what the law intended, and getting rewarded – with your taxpayer money.

For example, International Paper, the world's largest maker of cardboard boxes and office paper, is estimated to pull in a $1.27 billion windfall for the fiscal year.

Meanwhile, the greener companies – the recycled paper companies Frank works with through our Better Paper Project – are left out, because they're too clean. They don't produce the dirty black liquor byproduct in the first place, so they're left on the sidelines while the conventional virgin-pulp companies are busy gaming the system with their diesel mixtures.

It's an outrage that Congress has the ability – and the duty – to correct. Fortunately, Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate finance committee (which has oversight of the "black liquor" loophole) introduced a draft of new legislation last Friday that could prevent paper companies' exploitation of the alternative-fuels credit.

Before formal introduction of the legislation, they are taking public comments through July 10 to gauge public support.

Please take a moment today to send a message in support of this important legislation, and forward this message to your friends.

Since closing this loophole will mean the end of the billion-dollar taxpayer-funded windfalls for the conventional paper companies, they and their industry association will be lobbying aggressively to keep the loophole open. Without public comment they could easily influence key senators who receive their campaign contributions. Please comment today, so that together, we can stop the alternative fuels credit from being abused.

Click here for more opportunities to take action for a just planet!

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