Some Utah lawmakers want to leave the NSA high and dry—by cutting off their water supply.
The NSA keeps an enormous, $1.7 billion data center in a suburb of Salt Lake City, where a fleet of super computers consumes the energy equivalent of 33,000 houses. It’s the largest NSA data center in the country.
They rely on massive water coolers to keep the computers from overheating, and eventually want to procure a million gallons a day for their facility.
The city sells them this water at a discount, and plans to help them out with a $3.5 million water line system.
But since Edward Snowden revealed the NSA’s habit of violating the privacy of American citizens, some members of the Utah legislator aren’t so keen on housing and aiding the agency.
In answer to these concerns, a Republican state representative has crafted a bill that would forbid municipalities from giving “material support or assistance in any form to any federal data collection and surveillance agency.”
The bill would grandfather in the city’s current plan, but specify that once their agreements expire they will not be allowed to continue to cooperate with the NSA.
“This is not a bill just about a data center,” said vice chair of the Davis County Republican Party Joe Levi. “This is a bill about civil rights.”
According to the Washington Post, the state’s other lawmakers have not yet objected to the premise of the bill.
