In 2007, Congress passed a law requiring oil companies to blend billions of gallons of ethanol into gasoline. This so-called “ethanol mandate” was supposed to help wildlife and the environment. But according to a blockbuster investigation by the Associated Press, as farmers rushed to find new places to plant corn to make ethanol, they wiped out millions of acres of conservation land and destroyed wildlife habitat. In fact, more than five million acres of land set aside for conservation – more than Yellowstone, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park combined – have been plowed over. So it seems Uncle Sam’s idea to impose an ethanol mandate to benefit nature is a corny one indeed.