South Carolina – The South Carolina Senate passed a bill that would make “chemtrails” illegal. The bill passed after a divided subcommittee vote and a hearing where some individuals gave passionate testimony and had strong differences about science, trust in government, and state authority.
The Senate Medical Affairs Subcommittee voted 2–1 to move forward with Senate Bill 110. This bill would make it illegal to intentionally release chemicals into the air in order to alter the weather, temperature, or sunlight over South Carolina.
The vote came after hours of testimony dominated by supporters of the chemtrail theory. They say that planes are being used to discreetly spread chemicals as part of government-led geoengineering programs.
Dane Wigington, a national activist and founder of GeoengineeringWatch.org, was one of the people who testified. He said that large-scale weather manipulation is already happening. Several people who spoke at the meeting said that federal agencies plan extreme weather events, even though federal regulators have denied the claims many times.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has always said no to these kinds of allegations. In a fact sheet from July, the agency said, “We are not aware of any contrail intentionally formed… for the purpose of geoengineering or weather modification,” which goes against what was said during the hearing.
Still, several state lawmakers agreed that the bill should move forward because of uncertainties and the fact that the federal government had kept things confidential in the past. Senator Jeff Zell, a veteran of the Air Force, said he backed moving the bill forward even though he wasn’t quite sure about the theory itself.
“You can go to the Google machine and figure out what the federal government has hidden from its citizens over the last 100 years — particularly in the last 50,” said Zell. “This isn’t to say that I’m 100 percent in agreeance that there’s this massive conspiracy. But I wouldn’t doubt it at all if there was.”
Supporters of the bill also talked about similar attempts in other states. Rep. Thomas Lee Gilreath, who is introducing similar bills in the South Carolina House, told the subcommittee that Florida and Tennessee are two states that have already approved similar laws. Gilreath said that South Carolina wouldn’t be acting alone and repeated accusations that a lot of chemicals are released from aircraft every year, claims that federal agencies have not backed up.
Sen. Josh Kimbrell, who is running for governor, was the only one to vote against the bill. He questioned the validity of the claims stated. Kimbrell asked if the amount of planes needed to change the weather in the area even exists. This was a direct challenge to Wigington’s testimony and a warning against making dubious assertions into state law.
Senate Bill 110 would change Section 48-1-110 of South Carolina law to make it clear that no chemical or material can be released into the air with the goal of changing the weather or the amount of sunlight. The measure also says that federal agencies or people acting on their behalf “may conduct geoengineering experiments” in the state. This is a statement that the proposed law treats as truth.
The legislation would take effect immediately upon the governor’s signature. It now moves forward in the legislative process, where it is expected to continue drawing scrutiny from scientists, environmental agencies, and lawmakers concerned about the implications of regulating a phenomenon federal officials say does not exist.
