SHUTDOWN: Getting Busted for Straight-Vegetable-Oil (SVO)
It’s all fun and games until the IRS knocks on your door. At least that’s what Bob Teixeira must be thinking after his home state of North Carolina fined him $1,000 for converting his 1981 diesel Mercedes to run on straight-vegetable-oil (SVO). Bob was minding his own business when fuel inspectors, out to nab weekend-RVers using illegal fuel, noticed his “Powered By 100% Vegetable Oil” bumper sticker. After being fined by the state for allegedly avoiding motor fuel taxes, Bob was told he should also expect a nice fat $1,000 fine from the Feds, in addition to a $2500 bond if he wants to continue using vegetable oil in his fuel tank.
Prompted by high gas prices, global warming, and good old curiosity, more and more proud diesel owners are converting their vehicles to run on 100% vegetable oil. While the concept isn’t new, the number of dedicated users is steadily increasing, and this means more potential conflict with regulators who have no idea what to do with the vegetable oil crowd. Since vegetable oil is not recognized by the EPA as an official alternative fuel, most states have not decided how to handle the issue.
Few states. . .are prepared to regulate the new fuels, says the National VegOil Board, which promotes vegetable oil fuel.
“State offices do not have the forms to appropriately and fairly deal with VegOil, nor the staff to enforce the nonexistent forms,” said director Cynthia Shelton. “So either they tell people inquiring about compliance to get lost, or they make them jump a bunch of arbitrary hoops.”
It really comes down whether revenue collectors see using a more-or-less free fuel, vegetable oil, as blatant avoidance of paying the road tax. Unfortunately, the public typically receives mixed messages from different departments within the same state. The Department of Energy in Oregon actually offers tax credits for alternative fuel vehicles and fueling stations of 25% of the conversion or construction cost (up to $750/year). That’s what the law says, but call up the office or the Department of Revenue and you may here a different story.
Under the present circumstances it seems reasonable to promote grassroots activity focused on alternative transportation, so why doesn’t Uncle Sam just leave SVO’ers alone? Obviously, the road tax is an important source of revenue ($1.2 billion/year in NC), but it no one would argue that SVO, at least today, significantly affects that.
Is there any reason why these backyarder-greaseballs should get a free ride?
Well, ingenuity perhaps? Or doing there part to reduce our nation’s reliance on foreign oil? At a time when groundbreaking biofuel legislation passes daily, and the Department of Energy is practically throwing money at anything combining the words “cellulosic” and “ethanol”, this seems a little incongruous.
State Sen. Stan Bingham, R-Denton, is known around Raleigh for his diesel Volkswagen fueled by used soybean oil. The car sports a “Goodbye, OPEC” sign. “If somebody was going to go to this much trouble to drive around in a car that uses soybean oil, they ought to be exempt” from state taxes, he said.
If you want to find out where your state stands on the issue, call your state Department of Energy and see what they have to say about it. You might also consider offering to pay road taxes for the road miles you use each year, but don’t expect this to be a straightforward process. Also keep in mind that these taxes apply to homebrew biodiesel, though proper regulation should already be in place.
If you get busted by the man for attempting sustainable transportation, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Interested in SVO or want to learn how a vehicle can actually be converted? - stay tuned for more posts on the subject. In the mean time, (and not that I’m trying to give anyone away to the Feds) check out Megan’s recent post on the subject.
Driver ticketed for using biofuel: Vegetable oil sticks him with $1,000 fine. Bruce Henderson, The Charlotte Observer
Tags: Activism, Alternative Fuels, alternative+fuels, Automobiles, Biodiesel, biofuel, road+tax, straight+vegetable+oil, SVO
- Uncategorized
July 12th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Does oil rule?
Does fuel ethanol policy increase oil use and oil profit?
NO on AB118 a California car tax for oil welfare
Clean Air Performance Professionals
July 15th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Of COURSE big oil will be behind all manner of regulation in this wise. THEY hold the only keys to a limited resource, and control the whole of its distribution. The accelerating rate of supply-demand pressure on the supply, processing, and distribution has granted them their highest profits ever these past few years. Is anyone naif enough to think they won’t miss one cue in preserving their stranglehold on our transportation? Standare Oil nearly OWNS California, and has their lobbying chumps in every area of state government, including the regulations on local fuel formulation, higher standards for smog restrictions, laws regulating who can (large established good-ol-boy “professional” recyclers.handlers) and who cannot (you and me) transport “waste vegetable oils”. Midwest farmers have been growing/producing their own diesel fuels for a generation now, but haven’t been making a fuss about it, only driving old diesels for nearly free. No, big oil will NOT stand about hands in pockets letting ANYONE get by outside their sphere of control. When will we stand and say “enough”? Or at least vote out of office those politicians whose bedmates are the oil industry. Bostonians protested a tea tas of about a penny the pound…..with vigour (and a touch of injunuity into the bargain).
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:23 pm
This is ridiculous. Tons of people ride around on the same streets on bicycles, skateboards, even those scooters, and they don’t get fined. They’re not using gas. Outrageous.
July 22nd, 2007 at 10:45 pm
People have to pay fuel taxes, as they pay for the roads. It doesn’t matter what you fuel your car with, and has even less to do with “big oil”.
If you want to drive on government owned roads, you have to pay the taxes which maintain and repair them, it’s just common sense.
July 23rd, 2007 at 8:33 am
This is Bullshit.
I hope Bob Teixeira takes the state to court and wins.
The whole fucking country is ran by back stabbing Oil Companies.
I hate it…
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 pm
How about improving the system we have?
Ask for a fuel ethanol waiver allowed in the 2005 energy bill
Fuel ethanol uses lots of water
Audit “Smog Check” to fix the fault in more of the failed cars
Chief Sherry Mehl, DCA/BAR, has never found out if what is broken on a Smog Check failed car gets fixed, never
Improving Smog Check and fuel policy can cut car impact in half in 1 year and save money
About $20 billion in savings in first year
I’m confused about promoting products from offshore rather than improving our system
Clean Air Performance Professionals
November 17th, 2007 at 11:25 am
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September 18th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
F THAT NOISE!!!!!
That makes me want to throw up in my mouth. I converted my truck to svo because I wanted to get off the grid and I care about the environment. I guess that makes me an ass hole for caring about what kind of world I’m leaving for my children. What a bad mother, I deserve to be fined and then I can pay that fine with money intended to feed my family. Dealing with the financial hardship that would cause I suppose my best option would be to go get on welfare and let the government buy my groceries. Does any of this make since? With all that is wrong our country, our society, our economy, our mother earth how is what I chose to put into my gas tank even a justifiable issue? Oh wait I get it, the real issue is making the fat mans pockets fatter. I wouldn’t be paying taxes on gas so there would be less money going over seas to buy bullets (to support bushes ego). If alternative fuel became more mainstream and our government didn’t step in the big oil companies probably wouldn’t so regularly give our presidential administration the ass fuckings they so desperately need. Then again who knows maybe they would.
I’m sad to be a part of a country where trying to good things for our planet is a crime. enough said…