Drew Dixon
A controversial “weather modification” bill underwent intense pushback by members of the House State Affairs Committee, but lawmakers still approved it in the end.
The “Weather Modification Activities” bill, if approved by the full Legislature, “prohibits certain acts intended to affect temperature, weather, or intensity of sunlight within the atmosphere of this state.” The bill (HB 477) is now going to the floor of the chamber for full consideration.
But Thursday’s hearing before the State Affairs Committee drew heavy criticism from lawmakers ahead of a stark 15-9 split vote to advance it.
State Affairs Committee members such as Rep. Dotie Joseph, a North Miami Democrat, admitted that she was leaning in favor of the bill but changed her mind after testimony.
“We want to encourage good businesses who operate with good practices,” Joseph said. She said there were no clear definitions in the bill about how such a measure would be enforced at airports, who would inspect aircraft, how much it would cost the state and who would oversee enforcement at the facilities.
The proposed legislation stems at least in part from the chemtrails conspiracy theory. It’s a decades-old, debunked belief that contrails, the white lines of condensed water vapor that jets leave behind in the sky, are actually toxic chemicals that the government and other entities are using to do everything from altering the weather to sterilizing and mind-controlling the populace.
Rep. Kevin Steele, a Tallahassee Republican, sponsored the bill and told committee members that he understands there is skepticism. He was a nonbeliever as well, initially. But at very minimum, he said, there is cloud seeding going on and it involves airplanes spraying metals into the atmosphere.
“It is real. It is happening,” Steele said.
Steele acknowledged that there are needed clarifications ahead. “We are going to adjust,” he said.
The preliminary review process in the past two months has drawn wild testimony in various committees in both the House and Senate, which has a parallel bill (SB 56) sponsored by Republican Sen. Ileana Garcia. That measure was approved on the floor of the full Senate in a 28-9 vote.
Bradford Thomas, a recently retired Judge for the Florida 1st District Court of Appeal and former prosecutor, is one of the most vocal advocates of the chemtrails conspiracy. He has spoken before several legislative committees and did so again Thursday. Thomas reiterated his belief that there is untoward spraying of chemicals in the skies above his home in St. Johns County.
“I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It’s occurring,” Thomas said. “I’ve seen this at least 15 times.”
Augustus Doricko, founder of Rainmaker, a cloud-seeding geoengineering startup company, testified before the subcommittee that there is indeed cloud seeding going on. But he said it’s already heavily regulated and the proposed measure before the Legislature isn’t really necessary.
He said the conspiracy theories are “baseless and unsubstantiated claims about streaky clouds in the sky,” adding the exhaust from cars driving 200 miles release more metals into the atmosphere than any cloud seeding projects.
22 comments
So embarassing
April 17, 2025 at 10:41 am
We are governed by morons!
Foghorn Leghorn
April 17, 2025 at 10:42 am
Yup. This is pure idiocy.
Janice Evans
April 17, 2025 at 4:36 pm
I ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ɪ’ᴅ ʙᴇ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴏ ɪᴛ ʙᴜᴛ ᴍʏ ʙᴜᴅᴅʏ ᴍᴀᴋᴇs ᴏᴠᴇʀ $13,453 ᴀ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪs ᴀɴᴅ sʜᴇ ᴄᴏɴᴠɪɴᴄᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʀʏ. sᴛᴀʀᴛ ᴇᴀʀɴɪɴɢ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄᴀsʜ ɪɴ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʙʏ
Go ON my ProFILE
Michael K
April 17, 2025 at 11:04 am
The world is flat, the sun revolves around the earth, the Gulf of Mexico has ceased to exist. And now this nonsense.
But one man can try to destroy the world economy, the federal government the rule of law, and any person can be shipped off to rot and denied due process. But not a peep.
MAGA has lost its mind.
Foghorn Leghorn
April 17, 2025 at 11:08 am
Interesting that dumb azz Maryland Senator shows so much compassion for a gang banger and wife beater and oh he is here illegally, yet has nothing to say to the mother of the woman brutally murdered by another illegal gang banger in the state he represents. Like I said, dumb azz
The Cat In The MAGA Hat
April 17, 2025 at 11:21 am
Florida Twilight Zone
Skeptic
April 17, 2025 at 6:20 pm
Projection is confession.
SuzyQ
April 18, 2025 at 4:04 pm
As a clown yourself, you should know.
The Cat In The MAGA Hat
April 17, 2025 at 11:20 am
Florida Twilight Zone
Beauregard Claghorn
April 17, 2025 at 11:46 am
I suppose you get the bit where he’s not actually a gang banger, doesn’t beat his wife and was, by court order, here legally and dragging out the mother of the woman who was murdered is just a tactic to infer that illegals are more likely to commit crimes after the DOJ removed the links on their web site which actually demonstrate, with real data, that people here illegally are far less likely to commit crimes than other people. Never mind, we live in a fact free society now apparently.
Peachy
April 17, 2025 at 12:40 pm
You are correct. He is actually a choir boy that doesn’t slap wis wife around. His wife never made a report or phone calls to the police. He is truly an upstanding illegal that deserves the full commitment from the party that opened the flood gates for millions to enter illegally.
PeterH
April 17, 2025 at 11:55 am
When Americans elect clowns…. They need to expect a circus! Usually an expensive circus….. tickets to the event costs millions!
NPM
April 17, 2025 at 4:29 pm
Drew no Floridian cares what Augustus Doriko has to say about HB 477, he’s not from Florida, (California) has no business or clients here, his lobbyist is Ron Book so Doriko took a swipe at highly credentialed judges and legislators, and highly educated businessmen. One was a former military Veteran, they had degrees in Nuclear and Environmental Engineering with over 40 years experience.
Doriko is a 24 yr old, who is being backed by big money and has no clients or business being in FL.
Try putting facts from Federal documents from NOAA in your news briefs rather than subjective yellow journalism.
Secondly, the White House issued a Congressionally mandated research plan to conduct Solar Radiation Modification that document was issued 6/23, and Congress Mandated the funding in ‘22 specifying this toxic plan of SAI to block the sun and allegedly cool the earth.
Do you care about facts? Apparently not.
It appears that Mr Doriko cannot read either or do his homework, so his remarks are the “baseless” ones.
NOAAs own website says they are doing this now under Project SABRE and ERB.
Stratospheric Aerosol Injectables, that’s what they are Drew. If you need a tutor I’d be glad to help you.
JustBabs
April 18, 2025 at 1:11 pm
From NOAA’s webstie: “NOAA does not modify the weather, nor does it fund, participate in or oversee cloud seeding or any other weather modification activities.”
Skeptic
April 17, 2025 at 6:25 pm
Put on your tin foil hats — it is hard to regulate actual threats to society like social media and artificial intelligence/stupidity — you need a functional government to take on the richest predators in the world, not a bunch of nut jobs afraid of the lines in the sky. I wonder what an eclipse or a comet means to these whackos.
NPM
April 17, 2025 at 8:32 pm
Skeptic
Sounds you have read Rules for Radicals with your Alinsky style criticism.and gaslighting.
Not impressed. Go to the NOAA website and do some research on Solar Radiation Modification
Skeptic
April 17, 2025 at 9:56 pm
Is there still a NOAA web site? Didn’t that get scrubbed by the Department of Government Inefficiency? Not sure I get your point — are you standing up for the power of eclipses and comets as omens? Are you defending the harm caused by unregulated social media and artificial intelligence/stupidity? Or are you just trying to say that the gravest harm faced by the population of Florida today is chemtrails? That would be my point about the tin foil hats.
Basic Science
April 17, 2025 at 11:44 pm
Skeptic, look up “cloud condensation nuclei” (CCN). CCNs are required for normal contrails to persist, otherwise they will dissipate. The most effective CCNs are metallic particles. Soot from jet engine exhaust are poor CCNs which is why normal contrails always dissipate. The question we all need to be asking is how these CCNs (metallic particles) are getting into the stratosphere to cause persistent contrails.
SuzyQ
April 18, 2025 at 4:06 pm
Tinfoil hats? Are you willing to remove your chin diaper, to wit, mask? First things first.
Basic Science
April 17, 2025 at 11:31 pm
In order for contrails to persist and form into cirrus clouds there needs to be cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) for the water vapor to crystallize on and form ice. Soot and organic materials from jet engine exhaust are poor CCN which is why normal contrails always dissipate quickly. The “Chemtrail” conspiracy claims that cloud seeding nuclei such as metallic particles (aluminum) are deliberately released behind the jet engine exhaust plume such that normal contrails persist and form into artificial clouds. Please stop the gas lighting regarding “chemtrails” because from a scientific perspective the only way contrails can persist and form into cirrus clouds is if CCNs are present in the stratosphere. Where are the CCNs coming from? Are they being deliberately released? We all need to asking these questions and demanding truthful answers and not be gas lit by those behind all of this.
Linwood Wright
April 18, 2025 at 1:53 am
Brawndo. It’s what plants crave.
NPM
April 18, 2025 at 7:20 am
NOAA’s website is there
Can you type….read?
Facts are in all the Federal Documents if you care to understand or you can believe the Feds and MSM who told us the border was secure for the last four years. The same government that said we need to shut down the largest economy in the world and “shelter in place” to “flatten the curve”
Here is the link below read SABRE Project click open ERB (Earth Radiation Budget) after that there is a picture of a plane dispersing hazardous reflective metals in Stratospheric Aerosol Injectables that is the form of Solar Radiation Management or Modification. That application is what needs to be banned they use toxic chemicals, classified as such by the EPA that make human beings sick.
https://csl.noaa.gov/projects/sabre/