Lawmakers pass controversial bill that could hamper weather forecasters: 'Feeding into conspiracy theories'
Lawmakers in Florida have passed a bill that would effectively ban the use of weather modification practices.
On April 30, the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill that would outlaw weather modification and geoengineering in the state. First filed in November 2024 by Florida State Senator Ileana Garcia, Senate Bill 56 had quickly garnered the support of leading Republican figures in the state, including Governor Ron DeSantis.
SB 56 would prohibit geoengineering and weather modification activities by banning the release or dispersion of substances into the atmosphere to alter temperature, weather, climate, or sunlight intensity. It also aims to repeal existing laws related to weather modification permits and increase penalties for violations.
While Garcia addressed the Florida Senate in early April, she pointed to the idea of "cloud seeding." According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, cloud seeding is a decades-old technology that injects tiny particles, generally silver iodide crystals, into clouds in order to trigger rain or snow. However, the data surrounding the effectiveness of cloud seeding remains inconclusive.
Garcia referred to cloud seeding as "something as simple as sending up a $30 balloon that you can buy on Amazon with specific chemicals so that you can alter the weather or solar radiation," she said.
"It seems very concerning to me. I have a problem with people spraying perfume next to me sometimes," Garcia added. "Don't you have a problem with people spraying things into the atmosphere that really have no type of empirical data?"
As noted in SB 56, the bill would also require publicly owned airports to file monthly reports to the Florida Department of Transportation regarding any aircraft equipped for geoengineering or weather modification. In addition, the bill also removes the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's ability to conduct studies, research, experimentation, and evaluations in the field of weather modification.
Florida state representative Anna Eskamani criticized the logic behind the bill. "This bill is feeding into conspiracy theories, 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," Eskamai told Florida Politics.
"The fact that this bill does not require the consultation of a meteorologist, the consultation of scientists to say [whether this] is suspicious activity is absolutely going to create an environment where things will be reported nonstop, bogging down the department and now potentially bogging down law enforcement who have a lot of more important work to do."
Governor DeSantis has already signaled his intention to sign SB 56 into law. On April 2, the Florida governor posted a video to X in which he condemned the practice of geoengineering and other weather modifications.
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"People got a lot of kooky ideas that they can get in and put things in the atmosphere to block the sun and save us from climate change," DeSantis said. "We're not playing that game in Florida."
Once SB 56 is signed, violators could potentially face third-degree felony charges, up to five years in prison, and fines up to $100,000.
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