DOGE Hearing on Weather Modification Fueled by Conspiracy Theories
▼ Summary
– Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene chaired a House Oversight Committee hearing questioning whether divine or human authority controls the weather.
– The hearing reflects growing influence of conspiracy theories in American culture and government, including the idea that weather is being manipulated.
– Greene introduced broad legislation to prohibit “weather modification,” which conflates contrails, cloud seeding, and solar geoengineering under one umbrella term.
– The hearing discussed disparate techniques: contrails (natural jet exhaust clouds), chemtrails (a conspiracy theory), cloud seeding (a real, long-used practice), and solar radiation modification (a theoretical climate intervention).
– Greene has a history of promoting weather-related conspiracy theories, including falsely attributing wildfires to space lasers and floods to human manipulation.
A recent congressional hearing on weather modification became a platform for long-standing conspiracy theories, highlighting the growing intersection between fringe beliefs and legislative action. The event, organized by a Republican representative, centered on questions of divine authority versus human intervention in climate systems, reflecting a broader cultural moment where unsubstantiated claims increasingly influence policy discussions.
The hearing’s title, “Playing God with the Weather, a Disastrous Forecast,” set a dramatic tone, framing scientific efforts to influence weather as potentially hubristic or dangerous. Accompanying the session was proposed legislation aiming to broadly prohibit weather modification across the United States. Critics note that the bill’s language is exceptionally vague, grouping together unrelated scientific practices under a single controversial label.
During the proceedings, several distinct concepts were blended under the umbrella of “weather modification.” For example, condensation trails, commonly called contrails, are normal atmospheric phenomena resulting from aircraft exhaust. However, conspiracy theorists often refer to them as “chemtrails,” alleging they are part of a secret government program to spray chemicals and manipulate climate. This conflation of terms creates confusion and lends a false sense of credibility to baseless claims.
Another practice discussed was cloud seeding, a decades-old technique used by various states to enhance rainfall by introducing substances like silver iodide into clouds. Currently, nine states operate active cloud-seeding programs aimed at addressing water shortages or mitigating drought. Unlike speculative theories, cloud seeding is grounded in meteorological science and has been studied extensively.
The hearing also touched on solar radiation modification, an emerging, and still theoretical, field exploring ways to reflect sunlight to cool the planet. Sometimes called solar geoengineering, these ideas remain confined to research settings and have never been implemented at scale. Despite this, they are often wrongly portrayed in conspiracy circles as evidence of active, large-scale weather manipulation.
The organizer of the hearing has previously promoted unfounded theories, including an assertion that space-based lasers controlled by a specific family caused catastrophic wildfires. More recently, online rumors falsely blamed human interference for severe flooding in Texas, which in turn prompted the introduction of the weather modification bill. In response, the Environmental Protection Agency published an educational resource to clarify the government’s role and demystify common misconceptions about geoengineering.
As conspiracy narratives continue to seep into mainstream discourse, the blending of legitimate science with speculative fiction poses a significant challenge for public understanding and informed policymaking.
(Source: Wired)
