Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), and Todd Young (R-IN) today reintroduced the Waterway LNG Parity Act. This bill requires excise taxes on liquefied natural gas (LNG) for marine transportation on inland waterways be levied at a rate consistent with energy output relative to diesel and gasoline.
It takes about 1.7 gallons of LNG to provide the same amount of energy as a gallon of diesel, yet fuel usage is taxed on volume. So LNG usage would be taxed 50 cents for the same amount of energy contained in a gallon of diesel fuel that is only taxed at 29 cents.
Natural gas is cleaner and more efficient than gasoline and diesel respectively, yet under the current federal tax code disincentivizes its use. This legislation would change the inland waterways financing rate to provide equal treatment within the federal tax code.
“Diesel fuels should not be provided better tax treatment than natural gas,” said Bennet. “Our legislation acknowledges the shift to cleaner burning fuels, which is an important step in moving us to a cleaner energy economy.”
“Natural gas is a clean, domestic energy source that should be treated equally to gasoline and diesel,” said Dr. Cassidy. “We should be encouraging the use and production of LNG—benefiting the economy and workers in Louisiana.”
“The Waterway LNG Parity Act is a market-based fix for how we tax liquefied natural gas (LNG),” said Young. “The bill levels the playing field for this important alternative fuel source which represents a growing sector of our economy.”
“We applaud this extremely important legislation as we continue to promote clean fuel alternatives in our country. LNG is domestic, clean, and abundant, ensuring that marine operators have decades of affordable fuel that produces near zero sulfur oxide emissions and significantly reduce particulate matter and nitrogen oxides,” said Dan Gage, president of NGVAmerica.
“When liquefied natural gas is used as a fuel for marine, rail and over-the-road transportation assets, our environment wins. In addition to reducing carbon emissions, natural gas fuel reduces NOx, SOx and particulates compared to diesel. Natural gas costs less and prices are less volatile than diesel due to abundant domestic gas supply. But this safe and clean fuel is currently taxed at a higher rate per unit of energy, which then masks the economic benefits of switching from other dirtier fuels like diesel. Pivotal LNG and Southern Company Gas applaud this legislation because it eliminates the significant tax advantage that diesel currently enjoys versus liquefied natural gas,” said Tim Hermann, president of Pivotal LNG.
The Waterway LNG Parity Act comes on the heels of recent efforts led by Bennet to combat the threat of climate change and boost Colorado’s clean energy economy. The Carbon Capture Improvement Act would reduce carbon emissions by making it easier for power plants and industrial facilities to finance the purchase and installation of carbon capture, utilization, and storage equipment. He also introduced the Carbon Pollution Transparency Act to ensure a science-based method is used to determine the true cost of carbon pollution by the federal government, a plan that would hinder the Trump Administration’s efforts to weaken climate protections.