Ethanol is getting pinched, according to two stories today in the Wall Street Journal. (The WSJ requires a paid description, so we'll just give you the gist.) First, environmentalists are worried about the enormous amount of water needed both to grow the corn and distill the fuel. A small ethanol plant uses the water consumed by a town of 10,000. "Any time you're putting a high-water-use industry in the middle of the desert, it's a concern," said one enviro.

Meanwhile, the oil companies are growing a little peeved that oil taxes are being used to subsidize ethanol. So now ethanol faces opposition (or at least skepticism) from big oil and environmental groups.