Rain delayed: Ileana Garcia’s weather modification bill temporarily postponed

Ileana Garcia

A bill that would prohibit the use of weather modification activities in the Sunshine State has been temporarily put on hold.

Miami Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia filed the measure (SB 56) that would put in place larger fines for anyone who operates a weather modification operation, increasing from $500 to $100,000.

The legislation was set to be heard by the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environment, and General Government on Wednesday, but was temporarily postponed by Garcia.

If the measure does find its way into law, the injection, release or dispersion, by any means, of a chemical, a chemical compound, a substance or an apparatus into the atmosphere within the borders of Florida for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, weather or intensity of sunlight would be prohibited.

According to the bill’s latest analysis, all other existing weather modification statutes would be repealed, while the Department of Environmental Protection’s authority to conduct programs of study, research and experimentation in the field of weather modification would further be removed.

The analysis elaborates that geoengineering and weather modification encompass various techniques designed to manipulate Earth’s climate systems, either to influence precipitation patterns or to alleviate the effects of rising global temperatures. One such method, cloud seeding, seeks to modify local or regional atmospheric conditions to enhance rainfall or minimize hailstorms.

Meanwhile, geoengineering techniques like solar radiation modification target broader-scale interventions aimed at decreasing the amount of sunlight that reaches Earth’s surface.

As previously reported during the bill’s passage through the Senate Environmental and Natural Resources Committee, Garcia said there is a stack of evidence — both official and anecdotal — that shows weather modification is an ongoing practice. She further noted Florida has had licensing requirements for over a decade, but not a single application has been lodged in that time.

“Some would call it concerns. Others would call it conspiracy theories. But I thought that perhaps this bill would allow us to start somewhere where we can start to separate fact from fiction,” Garcia told the committee.