US Representative pushes ban on ‘weather modification', experts dismiss it as a conspiracy theory

Indian Express

08-07-2025

US Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene says she plans to introduce a bill that would make weather modification a felony in US. 'I am introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity,' she posted on X. 'It will be a felony offence.'
Greene said she had been researching weather modification 'for months' and that her bill would resemble Florida's Senate Bill 56, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis in June. That bill bans individuals from practicing geoengineering or cloud seeding, and imposes a $100,000 fine and five-year prison sentence.
Though Greene didn't directly mention the flash floods in Texas that killed at least 100 people, her announcement appeared to be a response to the disaster. 'We must end the dangerous and deadly practice of weather modification and geoengineering,' she wrote.
Cloud seeding, the most common form of weather modification, involves releasing tiny particles, typically silver iodide, into clouds to trigger precipitation. It's been in use for over 80 years and has been deployed by some states and private companies to increase snowfall in mountain basins or replenish water reservoirs. According to the Government Accountability Office and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA,) it is used only at a small scale and rarely undertaken at the federal level.
Meteorologist Matthew Cappucci dismissed Greene's claims outright. 'Cloud seeing is for a tiny cloud – not a 4,000,000,000,000 gallon flood,' he wrote on X. Cappucci, who has repeatedly debunked weather modification theories, added, 'It's not a political statement for me as a Harvard-degreed atmospheric scientist to say that elected representative Marjorie Taylor Green€ doesn't know what the hell she's talking about.'
I am introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity. It will be a felony offense.
I have been researching weather…
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) July 5, 2025
The NOAA has repeatedly explained that cloud seeding cannot alter weather in any meaningful or dangerous way. Still, Greene has long promoted such claims. In the wake of Hurricane Helene last September, she posted, 'Yes they can control the weather . . . it's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done.' A year earlier, she had claimed Democrats had 'weather-controlling powers,' prompting President Biden to call her remarks 'beyond ridiculous.'
Her history with fringe theories extends further back. In a 2018 Facebook post, which has since been deleted, Greene speculated that 'lasers or blue beams of light' funded by the Rothschild banking family might have caused the deadly Camp Fire in California. The conspiracy, often referred to as the 'Jewish space lasers' theory, was widely condemned.
Sceptics say Greene is conflating separate concepts. 'They think that this chemtrail conspiracy theory is about geoengineering and weather modification,' said science writer Mick West, a fellow at the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, in an interview with 12News. 'Then they discover that there's this thing called cloud seeding, which actually is weather modification. And then they kind of put two and two together and make 17.'
The Environmental Protection Agency has tried to clarify such misconceptions, explaining that the white streaks sometimes cited as evidence of government interference, commonly called chemtrails, are actually condensation trails created when hot aircraft exhaust meets cold air.
Florida lawmakers who passed Senate Bill 56 said their intent was to address public concern but added that cloud seeding itself was not dangerous.
Greene's bill has already drawn ridicule. 'I'm introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release or dispersion of stupidity into Congress,' Representative Jared Moskowitz wrote in a mocking reply.