When I worked at USDA, it was noted that it likely would have led to cheaper biofuels in the United States to the extent that such extensive legislation and tax

When I worked at USDA, it was noted that it likely would have led to cheaper biofuels in the United States to the extent that such extensive legislation and tax breaks wouldn't have been needed to jumpstart ethanol in the US. So on the consumer end, as far as consumers are taxpayers, it would have meant paying for zero support programs instead of two. If you want to go out on a limb, cheaper ethanol leads to cheaper petrol due to a substitution effect, so potentially it would have made all food products marginally cheaper thanks to lower shipping costs. The linked article is a good one though. It is a funny subject to bring up in the bureaucracy because as economists, we all knew the harm it did, but as bureaucrats, we also knew that the policy wasn't going anywhere.