Florida bans ‘chemtrails’ with new geoengineering and weather modification law
Florida has officially banned chemtrails. Sort of.
On Friday, June 20, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill banning “geoengineering and weather modification activities” to curb projected efforts to fight climate change and suspected efforts which some conspiracy theorists have claimed are used by individuals or government agencies to spread toxic chemicals on an unsuspecting populace through the white trails in the sky left by airplanes.
“Florida is not a testing ground for geoengineering,” DeSantis posted on X in May. “We already do not permit this type of activity, but we are going the next step to ensure it does not happen in this state.”
The bill, sponsored by Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia, repeals regulations allowing cloud seeding and requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to create an email and online form for any residents with concerns about weather modification or to report sightings.
As of Oct. 1, publicly owned airports will have to submit monthly reports listed any aircraft equipped to disperse substances with atmospheric altering capabilities or lose state funding.
Violations can mean up to a $100,000 fine and up to five years in jail.
The word “chemtrails” appears nowhere in the bill, but it did come up in multiple discussions of the bill and in social media posts shared by Garcia. Tennessee passed a similar law last year, with several legislators referring to fears from the long-running and debunked chemtrails conspiracy.
“This bill is feeding into conspiracy theories,” Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando, said during discussion of the bill during the legislative session, “and I think it’s important that we do not legislate under that type of pressure but that we legislate on science, we legislate on fact, we legislate not on fear but on information.”
According to an analysis of the bill, no one has applied for weather modification licenses in the state for 10 years.
What are chemtrails?
“Chemtrails,” as described by a Harvard University report, is a conspiracy theory buzzword that refers to types of contrails, the white, line-shaped clouds sometimes visible behind planes.
Contrails happen when hot, humid air from the engines condenses into ice crystals in the cold air, the National Weather Service says. While they often fade quickly, especially in dry weather, their appearance and durability can change depending on the conditions the plane flew through, including altitude, temperature, humidity, sunlight, wind speed, etc.
Sometimes, in saturated, high-humidity conditions, some contrails may persist for hours and spread out into cirrus clouds or last long enough for multiple airplane paths to create a crisscross effect.
This normal event has been singled out by conspiracy theorists as evidence that the government, the military, or climate scientists are deliberately pumping chemicals into the atmosphere for various schemes, up to and including creating hurricanes on command.
After hurricanes Helene and Milton, the myth resurged with prominent Republican leaders including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claiming it was true. Health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said that the Department of Defense sprays toxic chemicals on Americans. Rolling Stone reported that meteorologists were getting death threats. The spread of misinformation became so prevalent that both NOAA and FEMA were forced to create fact-checking webpages.
“No one creates or steers hurricanes,” NOAA said, “the technology does not exist.”
“The purpose of this bill is to separate fact from fiction,” Garcia said, and stressed that the bill was intended to look into the theories in response to numerous requests from constituents and potentially disprove them.
Where did the chemtrails conspiracy come from?
In 1996, the U.S. Air Force published a report about proposed weather modification in response to a military directive asking for future scenarios. The report itself says it contains “fictional representations of future situations/scenarios,” but it triggered concerns about shadowy evil plans for human population control, weapons testing, mind control, and more. The USAF later clarified that the paper did not reflect any plans, present or future, to modify the weather.
Since then, any reports of proposed geoengineering projects, rocket engine tests, widespread sickness, or just suspicious cloud formations bring out more accusations of chemtrails and governmental conspiracy, despite multiple reports to the contrary.
Conspiracy theorists have pointed to such reports as more evidence of massive collusion.
What does SB 36 do?
SB 36, Weather Modification Activities, repeals nearly a dozen provisions in Florida statutes that allow state-licensed weather modification such as cloud-seeding to cause rain, block any future innovations, and prohibit the injection, release or dispersion of any substance or apparatus into the atmosphere within Florida’s borders “for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, the weather, or the intensity of sunlight.”
It also:
- Changes the second-degree misdemeanor for anyone attempting weather modification without a state license to a third-degree felony for any public or private corporation attempting it at all, and adds a fine up to $100,000 per violation
- Makes it a third-degree felony for any aircraft operator or controller involved with a fine up to $5,000 and up to 5 years in prison
- Bans all study, research or experimentation in the field of weather modification
- Requires the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to set up an email address and online form for Florida residents to report “observed violations”
- Authorizes the DEP to investigate reports of violations and refer them to the Department of Health or the Division of Emergency Management
- Requires all operators of publicly owned airports to report monthly to the Department of Transportation (DOT) the presence of any aircraft equipped with any part, component, or device that could be used for these purposes
What is solar geoengineering?
Geoengineering, also called climate engineering or climate intervention, refers to deliberate large-scale interventions intended to counteract human-caused climate change through carbon dioxide removal or by deflecting some portion of the sun’s rays away from Earth.
A NOAA report from last year lists several proposed Solar Radiation Modification (SRM) methods for reducing the amount of solar radiation, including firing small reflective aerosols into the air to increase the reflectivity of the stratosphere or low-lying clouds, thinning cirrus clouds, or even putting large mirrors in space. However, none have progressed past the research stage as scientists study the potential risks and negative consequences.
Can humans manipulate the weather?
On a very small scale, yes.
Cloud seeding, where substances such as silver iodide or dry ice are released or fired into the atmosphere to increase rain or snow, mitigate hail or disperse fog, has been happening since 1946. But nothing on a large scale has been found to work.
There was an attempt, starting in the 1960s, by the U.S. military to modify hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, called Project STORMFURY. The project was unsuccessful and was discontinued, NOAA said.
“No technology exists that can create, destroy, modify, strengthen or steer hurricanes in any way, shape or form,” NOAA said.
When does SB 56 go into effect?
The law goes into effect on July 1, 2025. Owners of private airports must begin their monthly reports by Oct. 1, 2025.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida bans ‘chemtrails’ with new geoengineering and weather modification law
