Unsubstantiated ‘chemtrail’ conspiracy theories lead to legislation proposed in US statehouses

BATON ROUGE La AP As Louisiana Rep Kimberly Landry Coates stood before her colleagues in the state s Legislature she warned that the bill she was presenting might seem strange or even crazy Chosen lawmakers laughed with disbelief and others listened intently as Coates described situations that are often noted in discussions of chemtrails a decades-old conspiracy theory that posits the white lines left behind by aircraft in the sky are releasing chemicals for any number of reasons several of them nefarious As she urged lawmakers to ban the unsubstantiated practice she recounted skeptics to start looking up at the sky I m really worried about what is going on above us and what is happening and we as Louisiana citizens did not give anyone the right to do this above us the Republican reported Louisiana is the latest state taking inspiration from a wide-ranging conspiratorial narrative mixing it with facts to create statute Tennessee Gov Bill Lee signed a similar measure into law last year and one in Florida has passed both the House and the Senate More than a dozen other states from New York to Arizona have introduced their own statute Such bills being crafted is indicative of how misinformation is moving beyond the online world and into community procedures Elevating unsubstantiated theories or outright falsehoods into the legislative arena not only erodes democratic processes according to experts it provides credibility where there is none and takes away information from actual issues that need to be addressed Every bill like this is kind of symbolic or is introduced to appease a very vocal group but it can still cause real harm by signaling that these conspiracies deserve this level of legal attention declared Donnell Probst interim executive director of the National Association for Media Literacy Schooling Louisiana s bill which is awaiting Republican Gov Jeff Landry s signature prohibits anyone from intentionally injecting releasing applying or dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere with the purpose of affecting the temperature weather circumstances or intensity of sunlight It also requires the Department of Environmental Quality to collect reports from anyone who believes they have observed such pursuits While selected lawmakers have targeted real weather modification techniques that are not widespread or still in their infancy others have pointed to dubious evidence to patronage act Discussion about weather control and banning chemtrails has been hoisted into the spotlight by high-profile political officers including Strength Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr and U S Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene In recent times Marla Maples the ex-wife of President Donald Trump spoke in help of Florida s act She reported she was motivated to start digging after seeing a rise in Alzheimer s Inquired jokingly by a Democratic state senator if she knew anyone in the federal regime who could help on the issue Maples smiled and commented I sure do Chemtrails vs contrails Chemtrail conspiracy theories which have been widely debunked and include a myriad of contends are not new The publication of a Air Force statement on the doable future benefits of weather modification is often cited as an early driver of the narrative Particular say that evidence of the proposes is happening right before the publics eyes alleging that the white streaks stretching behind aircrafts reveal chemicals being spread in the air for everything from atmosphere manipulation to mind control Ken Leppert an associate professor of atmospheric science at the University of Louisiana Monroe announced the streaks are indeed primarily composed of water and that there is no malicious intent behind the thin clouds He says the streaks are formed as exhaust is emitted from aircrafts when the humidity is high and air temperature is low and that ship engines produce the same phenomenon A fact sheet about contrails published by multiple authorities agencies including NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency explains that the streaks left behind by planes do not pose wellbeing risks to humans However the trails which have been produced since the earliest days of jet aviation do impact the cloudiness of Earth s atmosphere and can therefore affect atmospheric temperature and circumstances Scientists have overwhelmingly agreed that records or evidence cited as proof of chemtrails could be explained through other factors including well-understood physics and chemistry associated with aircraft contrails and atmospheric aerosols according to a survey published in the journal Environmental Research Letters In the survey of chemists and geochemists mentioned they were not aware of evidence proving the existence of a secret large-scale atmospheric campaign It s pure myth and conspiracy Leppert explained Cloud seeding While countless of the arguments lawmakers have used to aid the chemtrails narrative are not based in fact others misrepresent actual scientific endeavors such as cloud seeding a process by which an artificial material usually silver iodide is used to induce precipitation or to clear fog It s maybe really weak control of the weather but it s not like we re going to move this cloud here move this hurricane here or anything like that Leppert revealed Parker Cardwell an employee of a California-based cloud seeding company called Rainmaker testified before lawmakers in Louisiana and solicited that an amendment be made to the ordinance to avoid impacts to the industry The practice is an imprecise undertaking with mixed results that isn t widely used especially in Louisiana which has key natural rainfall According to Louisiana s Department of Agriculture and Forestry a cloud seeding permit or license has never been issued in the state Geoengineering While presenting Louisiana s bill last week Coates revealed her research revealed charts and graphics from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on spraying the air with heavy metals to reflect sunlight back into space to cool the Earth The Consolidated Appropriations Act of directed the Office of Science and System Protocol with advocacy from NOAA to develop an initial governance framework and research plan related to solar radiation modification or SRM A resulting record which Coates holds up in the House session focuses on attainable future actions and does not reflect decisions that had already been made SRM refers to deliberate large-scale actions intended to decrease global average surface temperatures by increasing the reflection of sunlight away from the Earth according to NOAA It is a type of geoengineering Research into the viability of numerous methods and anticipated unintended consequences is ongoing but none have indeed been deployed Taking focus In modern years misinformation and conspiratorial narratives have become more common during the debates and committee testimonies that are a part of Louisiana s lawmaking process And while legislators say Louisiana s new bill doesn t really have teeth opponents say it still takes away time and focus from central work and more pressing topics State Rep Denise Marcelle a Democrat who opposed Louisiana s bill pointed to other issues ailing the state which has selected of the highest incarceration poverty crime and maternal mortality rates I just feel like we owe the people of Louisiana much more than to be talking about things that I don t see and that aren t real she declared Associated Press writers Kate Payne in Tallahassee Florida and Jack Dura in Bismarck North Dakota contributed to this story Source