Did you hear that the EPA wants to use your taxpayer dollars to spy on people in the shower? No?
The Rand Paul presidential campaign is apparently fundraising off this conspiracy theory.
via Media Matters
According to National Journal, Paul's campaign sent out a fundraising email on Tuesday claiming the "'EPA is announcing it wants to use our tax dollars to track how long hotel guests spend in the shower so they can start working to 'modify their behavior'!" The Journal also noted that the grant has similarly "been attacked in conservative circles and was subject to coverage by several conservative websites and news outlets last month."
I probably don't need to tell you, but the EPA is not going to spy on people in the shower in an effort to "modify their behavior."
The EPA awarded a small grant of $15,000 to the University of Tulsa which is developing technology to monitor water consumption, not the duration of your shower from the time you step in to the time you step out. The goal of the program is to reduce waste, not to creep on people.
The only surprising thing about this story to me is that the technology for monitoring water consumption is not already in place. I'd say that demonstrates how reckless we've been in the past about our water usage.
I'll be very disappointed if an EPA spy cam blocker does not make an appearance at the Rand Paul store.