A proposed ethanol plant in central Iowa will not be built. Corn and gasoline prices are in record territory and ethanol’s been taking a public relations beating over allegations the fuel’s resposible for an upturn in grocery prices.

On Wednesday, the Kansas City, Missouri-based company Alternative Energy Sources announced it’s shutting down. The ethanol management consulting business couldn’t raise the money it needed to build an ethanol plant in Boone County, Iowa.

The company’s remaining workers are being furloughed and four of the chief officers have resigned, including Mike Espy, who was U-S Agriculture Secretary under President Clinton.