Washington State House OKs $9 million and 4 plants to spur biodiesel in the state.

Washington state’s nascent oilseed industry would get an immediate $9 million boost under a package of emergency loans approved Monday by the House.

The money would fund four proposed crushing plants in Eastern Washington, where canola and other crops could be reduced to oil. The oil would later be blended with diesel fuel to create biodiesel.

Supporters say the crushers will help Washington leap ahead in production of both oilseeds and biodiesel, which burns cleaner than conventional diesel.

"A hundred years from now, it won’t be oil that runs our economy. It will be something else," said Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish. "Change is required — not by some hug-a-tree, granola kind of stuff, but by the simple realities of supply and demand."

By CURT WOODWARD

The Associated Press

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