That's an interesting theory, brian. It's like the old moonshine days, with "revenuers" combing the hollers for stills making untaxed homebrew.
But I think the theory falls apart, and here's why. Our current federal government isn't all that keen of raising revenues. Look at the party in charge. Their consistent pattern is to lower taxes as much as they can. We could debate the wisdom of Bushco's tax cuts-- I think it's a terrible debt to we're passing on to future generations -- but I'll admit that this is the one campaign promise he's delivered on (to the wealthy, anyway). Also, there's been no federal push to place taxes on email or ecommerce purchases (I'd gladly pay a penny per email if it means those spammers were paying the same on their million messages a day.)
Compared to those huge volumes of commerce, a tax on WVO bio would be small french fries indeed. But even if a tax was the gummint's motivation, why do you expect every media news outlet to parrot the party line, starting with the most "liberal media"? The WVO stories I've heard lately came from NPR and the local alternative weekly newspaper. Their coverage was mostly positive. Meanwhile, I heard an NPR interview with the president of Blue Sun, Colorado's retail B100 refiner, conducted by a know-nothing reporter who was skeptical, almost hostile.
It may be different elsewhere, like in the Midwest. Passing through Indiana, I heard radio ads for gas stations pumping bio. Anyone involved in the growing of soy is liable to know about its uses and markets. Someday the word will get out about commercially-made biodiesel, but I despair how long it may take. So I've resolved to talk up this fuel in every forum I visit, including this one.
I'd ask you, brian, just what market share you could predict WVO bio can capture within two years, or five, or ten?
How many folks are willing to brew their own fuel at home, doing the QC, disposing of the parrafin and pouring the product into their late-model, still-financed diesel vehicle?
If your answer is, say, 25% or more, what do you think that does to the price & availability of used cooking oil? (I don't see that stuff being delivered to restaurants with tanker trucks, and that's the kind of quantity we're going to need.)
As I consider those questions, it seems like WVO bio faces more and more problems as its numbers increase... but I think retail biodiesel would get cheaper as the market expands, due to economies of scale. Why, I'd save a gallon a month if I could buy it on the corner, not 15 miles away!
But what's the term? Non-homebrew? Refined biodiesel? I like "retail" bio, because it describes a buying experience we're all accustomed to. This fuel is so obscure, we don't even have a name for it yet, if the WVO movement takes cxlaim to "biodiesel"!