Latest news with #weatherModification
Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
MTG moves to make weather modification a felony
By Firebrand Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is moving to make weather modification a felony offense in the wake of the tragic Texas floods. 'Our air, our precipitation, our weather and our sunshine are something that we all share, and certain special groups or companies should not be controlling that,' she told the Daily Mail in a phone call Tuesday. Just days before the Georgia congresswoman posted on X she had introduced 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.' Her post came just a day after catastrophic flash floods rushed through central Texas, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 people as search and rescue efforts remain ongoing. Greene told the Daily Mail her bill and its timing have nothing to do with the floods, though she claimed questions remain about weather modification practices in Texas before the tragedy. 'This isn't something that just I came up with based on the horrible, tragic flooding that occurred in Texas ... I've been talking about this for a very long time,' she said. Multiple social media posts from the congresswoman dating to last year have consistently raised questions about human control over the weather. The Republican's bill would classify weather modification as a felony offense similar to a recent law signed into effect in Florida , which makes it a third-degree felony to modify the climate in the Sunshine State. Greene's legislation as of now has little chance of reaching the House floor for a vote since it has not even been assigned to a committee for a hearing or mark-up. Her measure is cosponsored by exactly one other member: Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett, who wrote in defense of Greene after she was accused of stirring conspiracies. 'Why are you mad at [Rep. Greene] for raising the question of "weather modification"? If it doesn't exist then what does it hurt?' he posted Tuesday morning. 'It's an issue that many Americans talk about, and it gets largely ignored and people that have been talking about this for years and years, they get called conspiracy theorists,' Greene told the Daily Mail. 'This is an extremely popular issue among Americans, and I've been looking into this for a very long time, and I'm happy to be leading the charge on it, because it really it's something that needs to be pushed to the forefront,' she added. Her alarming post about weather engineering came just before she published a heartfelt statement about the families impacted by the deadly Texas flooding. But not all Republicans are on the same page when it comes to weather modification. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz even shot down the idea that the practice is to blame for the deluge leading to the flash floods last week. 'To the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification,' Cruz said at a press conference addressing the floods on Monday. 'Look, the internet can be a strange place,' the senator added. 'People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.' According to the bill's text seen exclusively by the Daily Mail, the measure defines geoengineering or weather modification activity as 'any injection, release, emission, or dispersal of any chemical, chemical compound, substance, or apparatus into the atmosphere conducted for the express purpose of - producing changes in the composition or behavior of the atmosphere; affecting the temperature, weather, climate, or intensity of sunlight; or counteracting of mitigating climate change or climate systems.' Cloud seeding, for example, is a practice where aircraft release chemicals into the atmosphere so that clouds absorb them and subsequently drop rain. It is legal in most states, including Texas. Still, Greene was blasted by meteorologist Matthew Cappucci after her post, which he likened to 'idiocy.' '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,' the D.C.-based weatherman responded to the Republican's post. 'She'd be equally qualified to fly a Boeing-737, practice nuclear medicine or train zebras,' he continued. 'Given my role in media, I'm not allowed to call anyone an idiot,' Cappucci continued. 'However, what I can — as a scientist — say is that Marjorie's mis-informed tweets regarding conspiracy theories/weather modification are commensurate with the level of education colloquially referred to as idiocy.' Greene pushed back on claims that weather issues are out of her lane by claiming it is a top issue for residents in her district. Greene has for years posted about the issues with weather modification. 'Yes they can control the weather,' she wrote in October 2024. 'It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
'The internet can be a strange place': Ted Cruz confronts 'weather modification' conspiracy theories
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Tex., denied claims of weather modification following flash floods that ravaged central Texas on Friday. 'To the best of my knowledge, there is zero evidence of anything related to anything like weather modification,' Cruz told reporters at a briefing on Monday. 'Look, the internet can be a strange place. People can come up with all sorts of crazy theories.' Cruz's comments came in response to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who said on Saturday she would introduce legislation to ban 'weather modification.' '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,' Greene wrote on X. Greene said that she's been 'researching weather modification' and spent months preparing legislation that would prohibit the 'deadly practice of weather modification and geoengineering.' The Georgia lawmaker has promoted the idea that the government can control the weather for a while. In the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024, Greene likewise took to X. 'Yes they can control the weather. It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done,' Greene wrote. Greene has also at times embraced the concept of 'weather modification,' suggesting that 'they' could have used cloud seeding technology to quell the wildfires in California earlier this ongoing flash flooding, hundreds of rescues, and a growing death count — 89 people were confirmed dead as of Monday afternoon — Cruz was forced to rebut conspiracy theories promoted by some members of his own party. Kandiss Taylor, a Georgia state politician and 2026 congressional hopeful, called the flooding in Texas happens when 'weather is manipulated.' 'Fake weather. Fake hurricanes. Fake flooding. Fake. Fake. Fake,' Taylor wrote on X. With Republicans controlling all three branches of government, Cruz is scrambling to dispel conspiracy theories as well as more credible claims that cuts to agencies like FEMA and the National Weather Service played a part in the severity of the disaster. 'There's a time to have political fights. There's a time to disagree. This is not that time,' Cruz said. The post 'The internet can be a strange place': Ted Cruz confronts 'weather modification' conspiracy theories appeared first on
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Greene to introduce ‘weather modification' bill
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Saturday she plans to introduce a bill aimed at tackling 'weather modification.' '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,' she wrote in a Saturday post on X. 'I have been researching weather modification and working with the legislative counsel for months writing this bill,' Greene added. The Georgia lawmaker said the legislation would resemble Florida's Senate Bill 56, which was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in late June. The text makes it illegal for individuals to practice geoengineering and weather modification by imposing a $100,000 fine and a five-year prison sentence. The punishment would apply to cloud seeding, an 80-year-old technology that adds tiny particles—usually silver iodide crystals—to clouds to trigger rain or snow, as defined by the Government Accountability Office. Some states have practiced the measure, but it's rarely been undertaken by federal jurisdictions. 'We must end the dangerous and deadly practice of weather modification and geoengineering,' Greene said of the forthcoming bill. However, lawmakers in the Sunshine State said cloud seeding is a safe practice that has been undermined by conspiracy theories about weather alteration, as contrails, condensation trails left in the air by planes, are sometimes confused as chemtrails. '[They are] kind of two different things, and I think people have got them mixed up, because they think that they've heard that this chemtrail conspiracy theory is about geoengineering and weather modification,' Mick West, a science writer and fellow for the Committee of Skeptical Inquiry, told 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.' Greene made headlines last year when she suggested Democrats were able to 'control the weather' in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, prompting then-President Biden to condemn what he called 'irresponsible' and 'beyond ridiculous' falsehoods. Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.) poked fun at Greene's bill in a post online. 'I'm introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release or dispersion of stupidity into Congress,' he wrote in a Saturday post, quoting Greene's original announcement. But one of her Republican colleagues has already signaled he'll back her efforts. 'Let's roll Chairlady!' Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) wrote online. Greene's office did not immediately respond to additional requests for comment on the bill and potential federal penalties outlined in the text. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
MTG Wants to Make ‘Deadly' Weather Manipulation a Felony
Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has a new top priority after doing her part to shuffle President Donald Trump's 'Big Beautiful Bill' across the finish line. Greene announced in a Saturday tweet that she intends to wage war on the 'deadly' practice of 'climate modification' and 'geoengineering' with a bill that would make any such efforts a felony offense. Greene said the bill will prohibit 'the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity.' According to Greene, she's been 'researching weather modification' and now she is ready to take action after spending months 'writing this bill' with her legislative counsel. She added, 'It will be similar to Florida's Senate Bill 56. We must end the dangerous and deadly practice of weather modification and geoengineering.' Greene did not go into how or why such a bill is a priority for the state of Georgia and her constituents, yet even the far-right MAGA congresswoman's most casual followers would know that her gripes with the sky have been a long time coming. In a since-deleted 2018 Facebook post, multiple news outlets reported that Greene suggested that 'lasers or blue beams of light' from 'space solar generators' in the sky, controlled by Jewish people, may have caused a spate of wildfires—including the 150,000-acre Camp Fire in California that killed 85 people. She has denied she made such a claim in a later interview. On the heels of the devastating 2024 Hurricane Helene, Greene, seemingly provoked, took to X with a message. 'Yes they can control the weather,' she wrote, 'it's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done.' Greene's tweet prompted a community fact-check note on X to clarify that 'hurricanes and other large storms cannot be created artificially with modern technology.' Yet that hasn't stopped her from going after 'they' who 'can control the weather.' Early this year, as fires ripped through Southern California, Greene seemed to call on 'they' again to control the weather and put the fires out. 'Why don't they use geoengineering like cloud seeding to bring rain down on the wildfires in California?' she tweeted on Jan. 15, prompting another fact-check note to explain why such a practice would be ineffective. She added, 'They know how to do it.' Now that Republicans control the three branches of government, Greene's plan to introduce a bill appears to be her latest effort to bring 'they' out of the clouds and back down to Earth.
Bloomberg
30-05-2025
- Climate
- Bloomberg
China Steps Up Cloud Seeding to Boost Rain in Dry Wheat Regions
China has ramped up weather modification measures to bolster rainfall across parched wheat-growing areas in the north of the country, just as farmers accelerate the harvesting of their crops. The arrival of much needed rain over China's grain belt last week prompted authorities to coordinate operations to boost precipitation, according to the China Meteorological Administration. Provinces targeted with ground- and air-based measures include Inner Mongolia, Shaanxi and Shanxi.
