Tennessee legislature passes bill based on ‘chemtrails’ conspiracy theory: What to know
The Tennessee legislature has passed a bill targeting “chemtrails.”
SB 2691/HB 2063, sponsored by Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston, and Sen. Steve Southerland, R-Morristown, passed in the House on Monday in a 70-22 vote, while the Senate adopted it March 18 in a 25-6 vote.
The bill claims it is “documented the federal government or other entities acting on the federal government’s behalf or at the federal government’s request may conduct geoengineering experiments by intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere, and those activities may occur within the State of Tennessee,” according to the bill.
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The legislation would ban the practice in Tennessee.
“The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is prohibited,” the bill reads.
Here is what else to know about chemtrails.
Bill discussion includes lawmakers debating existence of Bigfoot
During Monday’s House session, an amendment put forth by Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, to amend the bill led to a lively discussion about the existence of Bigfoot.
“Whereas, it is documented, among those within the pseudoscience of cryptozoology, that there exists a large and hairy human-like creature that inhabits forests in North America; and whereas, this creature is commonly referred to as a yeti, Bigfoot, or Sasquatch; and whereas, it is the intent of this General Assembly to protect the public health and welfare of Tennesseans and other creatures while allowing all authorized activities permitted under State law; now, therefore, be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee,” read the amendment.
Clemmons said the amendment was not to be taken seriously because SB 2691/HB 2063 shouldn’t be taken seriously.
Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, proceeded to ask Clemmons if he believed in the existence of Bigfoot.
“About as much as I believe in a conspiracy theory about contrails,” replied Clemmons.
Rep. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, inquired why they were dealing with issues related to conspiracy theories and not issues like pollution.
Clemmons recognized that it is imperative to maintain environmental welfare, however it is “unfortunate” that they’re focused on conspiracy theories. Clemmons added that he would prefer they not waste Tennessean’s time and resources and instead focus on issues that are actually harming the environment and atmosphere.
In response to the discussion, Fritts said it bothered him to have to bring the legislation forward and even more so that his fellow lawmakers would “make a laughing stock” out of something as serious as clean air, clean water and clean soil with an amendment.
“I’m sad to see that [the] Tennesseans that are watching this tonight, might see that some members in this House don’t take serious their health and I think that is quite indeed a travesty,” said Fritts.
“I would offer you colleagues that everything that goes up, must come down, and those chemicals that we knowingly and willingly inject into the atmosphere simply to control the weather or the climate are affecting our health and have the potential to. So I submit to you, that this is a very common sense thing to do and we should prohibit it in the state of tennessee”
What are chemtrails? What is the conspiracy theory behind them?
The chemtrail theory is the belief that the government is secretly adding toxic chemicals to the atmosphere from aircrafts, similar to contrails. According to a research group at Harvard University which focuses on climate science and technology, the reasoning behind the theory involves sterilization, reduction of life expectancy, mind control, and weather control.
The research group has debunked the theory, saying that there is no credible evidence for the existence of chemtrails.
“Study of solar geoengineering is in the very early stages and the topic is (rightly) a very controversial area of climate policy because if it ever were tested at large scales or implemented it could involve physical risks and would raise a range of serious socio-political and ethical issues,” said the Harvard research group. “We are confident that there is no currently active program to actually test or implement albedo modification outdoors.”
According to Harvard, if there truly was a large-scale program which involved aircrafts introducing hazardous chemicals, there would first need to be an operating system to manufacture, load and disperse materials. Additionally, if such a system existed, it would require the work and cooperation of thousands of people which would make it difficult to maintain a secret.
It would be fairly simple for a single individual to reveal the existence of the program using leaked documents, photographs or hardware, said Harvard.
“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. The claim that there is a large-scale secret program to spray materials from aircraft is extraordinary. Yet all the evidence we have seen to date has been very weak,” said Harvard. “The most common claim is simply that aircraft contrails look ‘different’, without any comparative analysis.”
“This [is] as convincing as saying that alien beings walk among in disguise as people because some people act very strangely.,” they added.
Are contrails used for geoengineering?
No.
Contrails, the white streaks of water vapor left in the sky from planes, are not used for geoengineering. The contrails are simply water clouds resulting from jet exhaust, said Alan Robock, a climate science professor at Rutgers University who studies geoengineering, in a statement to USA TODAY.
Furthermore, contrails would be a poor choice for climate intervention, said Dave Fahey, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s chemical sciences laboratory.
“Contrails are short-lived cloud effects – less than a few days,” Fahey told USA TODAY. “They would be a very inefficient method.”
Has solar geoengineering ever been implemented?
No.
Solar geoengineering is an area of study meant to combat rising global temperatures by reflecting sunlight away from the Earth.
“The idea is that dispersing aerosols – tiny particles – at high altitude would reflect a small fraction of incoming sunlight back to space and cool the planet, offsetting some global warming,” Joshua Horton, a geoengineering research director at Harvard University, said in an email to USA TODAY.
This has not yet been developed, though, Horton and Robock said.
“The technology does not exist,” Robock said. “There is no mechanism to get sulfur gases into the stratosphere. People have created designs for such airplanes, but they have not been built.”
Fact check: No, airplane contrails are not being used to combat climate change
Robock said solar geoengineering would most likely cause bright yellow and red sunrises and sunsets, not white streaks.
“It would not look at all like contrails,” he said.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
Diana Leyva covers trending news and service for The Tennessean. Contact her at Dleyva@gannett.com or follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter at @_leyvadiana
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee legislature passes bill based on ‘chemtrails’ conspiracy theory: What to know
