Via Snapped Shot and STACLU comes news that Iowa state officials have banned the use of tea by Tea Party protesters holding an event tomorrow in Cedar Rapids.

The tea violates environmental standards because it will discolor the water:

A Cedar Rapids group will do a symbolic tea dumping into the Cedar River on Saturday because state officials won’t let them use the real thing.

An anti-tax group wanted to pitch in real tea like the Bostonian revolutionaries opposed to England’s tea taxes.

Tea, although natural and quite tasty, is considered a pollutant that can’t go into a body of water without a permit, said Mike Wade, a senior environmental specialist at the DNR’s Manchester field office.

“Discoloration is considered a violation,” Wade said.

What would our Founding Fathers say?