Map Shows States Trying to Ban 'Chemtrails'

Newsweek

2 days ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
At least eight states have introduced legislation about so-called "chemtrails"—a conspiracy about chemicals being released into the atmosphere by aircrafts.
Newsweek has created a map showing the states that are considering legislations surrounding this unsubstantiated phenomenon.
Why It Matters
Chemtrail conspiracy theorists claim that the government or other groups are using aircrafts to release chemicals or metals into the atmosphere, visible in the white lines that aircrafts leave behind in the sky. People have claimed these are used for a range of things from weather modification to mind control.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the white lines observed behind aircraft are contrails—condensation trails—that form when hot exhaust from jets meets cold air at high altitudes. The EPA states these are a natural result of flight and pose no risk to weather patterns. Some flights do not produce them as they require specific humidity and temperature conditions.
Federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), have publicly denied undertaking or planning any weather modification experiments such as those described by chemtrail conspiracy theorists.
What To Know
At least eight states have introduced bills regarding chemtrails.
In Louisiana, Republican state Representative Kimberly Landry Coates defended a bill to ban chemtrails, which last week passed the state House of Representatives 58-32.
The measure also directs the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to record reported chemtrail sightings and pass complaints on to the Louisiana Air National Guard.
In Florida, GOP state Senator Ileana Garcia introduced legislation in December 2024 to prohibit weather modification activities in the state. In May 2025, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he would sign the law.
In April 2024, Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill banning the release of chemicals into the air, however, the bill did not explicitly mention chemtrails.
There are other bills under consideration in Kentucky, where a bill seeks to ban "any form of geoengineering activities" including polluting the atmosphere and Minnesota where a House bill introduced in March aims to ban weather-modifying substances.
In Rhode Island, a Senate bill would ban certain weather engineering activities and in New Hampshire a bill proposes banning the release of polluting emissions.
In South Dakota, a Senate bill also would ban polluting emissions and in Texas, state Representative Wesley Virdell introduced an anti-chemtrail bill.
What People Are Saying
Mark Shanahan who teaches American politics at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom told Newsweek that the legislation on chemtrails showed a "disconnect from reality."
"The norm in mature democracies is that voters elect skilled representatives who act in our best interest, and thus for very many decades potential legislators have striven to prove their intellect, their balance and their ability to weigh evidence," he said.
"But that changed with Trump's election to a situation where politics is much more about celebrity than credibility and cranks from the margins of political ideas are now lauded front and centre. Whether it's RFK [Robert F. Kennedy Jr.] at Health, or [Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene] MTG in the House, wild and wacky ideas, with no basis in truth, are being raised and argued as if they were true - often with little or no media push-back. The president sets the tone, and so far, Donald Trump has encouraged and enabled the circus of craziness. While US government is more about ratings than effectiveness, this disconnect from reality is set to continue."
GOP Louisiana state Representative Kimberly Landry Coates: "This bill is to prevent any chemicals above us in the air, specifically to modify the weather."
Florida state Senator Ileana Garcia previously told Newsweek: "The bill essentially repeals outdated provisions related to various aspects of the weather modification law, including definitions, licensing requirements, and the processes surrounding the application and issuance of licenses."
Robert F Kennedy Jr. on X in August about chemtrails: "We are going to stop this crime."
An airplane leaves contrails in the blue sky on March 6, 2024, in Germany.
An airplane leaves contrails in the blue sky on March 6, 2024, in Germany.
Photo by: Robert Michael/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
What RFK Jr Has Said About Chemtrails Conspiracy Theory
Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hosted chemtrail activist Dane Wigington on his podcast in March 2023. The episode was titled "Are Chemtrails Real?"
In the episode, Kennedy Jr. said he began to consider the issue of chemtrails when he and actor Woody Harrelson saw contrails from a plane transform into clouds. He asked Wiginton questions about the theory, asking him, "What proof do we have that chemtrails are happening?" and "How come we don't see more whistleblowers coming out?"
Kennedy Jr. also speculated as to whether chemtrails are causing "accumulations of aluminum, even in places in very, very remote parts of the earth."
Wigington said planes are spraying aluminum into the environment, adding: "What we're seeing in our skies are not condensation trails. In almost all cases they are sprayed particulate trails."
Kennedy Jr. said it was "kind of frightening to think that somebody may be putting large amounts of bioavailable aluminum into the environment, spraying it in microscopic particulates from airplanes."
Scientists surveyed in a 2016 study by Carnegie Science, University of California Irvine rejected the claim that excess environmental aluminum was the result of spraying. Most rejected that aluminum concentrations have increased at all.
Of the experts who thought that aluminum concentrations might have increased, the increase was primarily attributed to changes in industrial, agricultural, or natural processes.
Marjorie Taylor Greene's Weather 'Control' Comment
After Hurricane Helene swept across the Southeastern U.S., killing at least 227 people, last year, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia Republican, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: "Yes they can control the weather. It's ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can't be done." The congresswoman didn't specify who "they" were.
She then posted an image of Helene overlaid on an electoral map, suggesting that the hurricane's path had been intentionally set in motion to target Republican-leaning counties. The map appeared to have been created by Matt Wallace, a crypto influencer and conspiracy theorist with over 2 million followers on X.
Greene's posts quickly went viral, with one receiving a user-generated community note on X that clarified existing "weather control" technology is limited to small-scale cloud seeding and cannot generate large storms or hurricanes.
What Happens Next?
Whether or not other states try to pass similar legislation remains to be seen as legislative sessions continue.