News of three unrelated studies indicates that an unintended consequence of energy policy will impact water. Water is of course something that is not normally considered when energy policies are devised; the Deciders are targeting carbon emissions, answering to powerful auto and ag lobbies, and considering fossil fuel supplies and costs (or paying lipservice to them).

Federal, state, and local regulations and subsidies cause malinvestment in energy alternatives, such as electric cars or ethanol. Competition is inhibited, so alternatives that are actually better for the environment may never come to light. Additionally, energy producers are shielded from the financial impact of pollution of waterways, since they are public property with no owners ensuring that their water is untainted. Finally, the socialization of water and energy means that consumers to not feel the true impact of shortages, so true conservation can not occur.First, was a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Monday. They model the effects of the proposed increase in ethanol-from-corn suggested by the US Senate and find that the Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone” will become much larger. Eliminating Ag subsidies and transferring waterways to private owners would do a better job of mitigating this disaster than the many absurd recommendations made by these authors (including a mass change in diet by Americans so that we can shift corn from animal feed to biofuel).

Similar measures would help with the problem identified in a Nature-published study. It examines the ability of bacteria to process the run-off of fertilizer. Happily, these bacteria are actually good at responding to increasing fertilizer loads, but there are limits to their efficiency.

Finally, a study will be published in June that examines the hidden impact of electric cars on water supply. Because water is used as a coolant for various forms of electricity generation, some of the water evaporates, and an increased need for electricity would cause a larger amount of water to be lost to evaporation. California, notably an arid state that often imports water and electricity from neighboring states, has artificially promoted electric vehicles through legislation and, of course, has not yet learned that evermore water and energy socialization will not cure their latest crisis.