The American Corn Growers Association got excited about ethanol prospects and put pressure on the legislators representing the Corn Belt. No big deal, just congressional business as usual. And the bogeyman specter of "energy security" loosed its banshee wail.

California may be a little smoggier as a result- see this article from the Sacramento, CA, newspaper, "Corn Lobby wins....," posted in Senator Feinstein's website:
Corn Lobby Wins

Ethanol increases nitrous oxide and hydrocarbon emissions when mixed in gasoline- this seems to be a deep dark secret. Ethanol has a lower energy content than ordinary gasoline, so it also reduces fuel economy slightly.

Digression- this thread is forcing me to learn a few things.