I didn't check out the links posted with the articles (yet) so I didn't get the take on the tree-hugger slant.
Before everyone goes off here, remember that being self-sufficient is a good conservative trait.
Case in point from TODAY. My friend lives down in the city limits where there are water restrictions. He has rigged up some 55-gallon drums and a pump on his truck and gets water from the river to water his grass. His neighbor ratted him out to the city and when the 'water police' showed up, he pointed to his truck with the barrels on it with a pump feeding his sprinklers and they both had a good laugh at the socialist-let-the-nanny-state-take-care-of-everything-liberal neighbor who ratted him out in the first place.
Wonder if there will be happy endings like that under TIPS?
Recent history has shown there is at least a significant subset of federales who shoot first and ask questions later.