Sally Reed
The “chemtrails” conspiracy theory has attracted a great deal of attention lately after the Tennessee state senate passed a bill this month addressing the unfounded idea of the government releasing toxic chemicals in the sky.
Bill Gets Passed Through Tennessee Senate
A bill prohibiting the “intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances” was swiftly passed through the Republican-controlled Tennessee Senate.
The bill will next be reviewed by the Republican-controlled House before reaching Tennessee’s Republican governor for consideration. There is currently also a push to enact a similar law in Pennsylvania.
The Word “Chemtrails” Has Not Been Used
The Tennessee bill was introduced in the senate by Republican Steve Southerland. The bill avoids using the term “chemtrails.”
However, the language of the bill, which discusses the government “intentionally dispersing chemicals into the atmosphere,” clearly resembles a long-standing conspiracy theory.
The Conspiracy Theory
Supporters of the discredited “chemtrails” conspiracy theory claim that the cloudy white lines left through airplane emissions are actually chemicals deliberately released into the atmosphere.
According to this theory, government agencies or shadowy private entities are allegedly dispersing toxic chemicals for various purposes. The agenda allegedly ranges from weather modification to controlling the minds of people.
Scientists Debunk “Chemtrails”
Scientists have long been debunking this conspiracy theory. Alan Robock, a climate science professor at Rutgers university said, “There’s no such thing as chemtrails.”
Robock added, “If you look at the sky, sometimes you see contrails from airplanes – condensation trails – and they’re just made out of water. It’s the same thing that happens in the winter when you breathe out and you see a little cloud in front of your mouth. It’s a mixture of warm, humid air with cold, dry air.”
8% Of Americans Believe “Chemtrails” Exist
The chemtrails concept has been debunked many times. Yet, many people are still really concerned about these airplane condensation trails.
According to a 2019 YouGov/Statista survey, 8% Americans “strongly believe” that “the government is using chemicals to control the population (chemtrails),” while an additional 11% “somewhat believe” in the concept.
Lack Of Evidence
Robock asserted there wasn’t any real evidence proving the veracity of the conspiracy theory.
Robock said, “There’s no evidence that anybody is pumping chemicals into airplanes. If this was a huge [government] conspiracy to do those things, do you think nobody would sort of, tell on them?”
Unenforceable Legislation
It is also crucial to take into consideration the fact that the legislation aimed at keeping Tennessee’s skies clear is essentially ineffective because politicians do not have control over the wind and sky.
Robock asked some pertinent questions, “It’s not going to make any difference one way or the other – how could they even enforce it? What if somebody did a chemtrail in Kentucky and it drifted over Tennessee? What would they do?”
Similar Legislation May Be Underway In Pennsylvania
Following the passage of the Tennessee bill in the state senate, Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano announced that he also intends to pursue a similar legislation to “ensure the skies over Pennsylvania are protected well into the future.”
Mastriano, who was expected to win but was eventually defeated in the 2022 election for becoming the governor, has previously spoken publicly about chemtrails.
Mastriano Posted A Picture on Facebook
In November 2023, Mastriano posted a picture on Facebook with the caption: “I have legislation to stop this. I have legislation to stop this. I took this at 4:15pm Monday in Chambersburg [PA]. Normal contrails dissolve / evaporate within 30-90 seconds.”
The post received a lot of engagement showing that many people still believe in the existence of chemtrails.
The Concept Of “Solar Geoengineering”
Both the Pennsylvania and Tennessee initiatives refrain from using the word “chemtrails” and instead refer to the concept as “solar geoengineering.”
“Solar geoengineering” refers to the concept of dispersing materials like sulfur into the air to reflect sunlight for combating climate change. This approach of adopting a different term may be an effort to avoid criticism associated with conspiracy theories.
Not Using The Term Hasn’t Helped Much
Even though the legislation doesn’t use the term “chemtrails,” both national and local media have characterized it as targeting that conspiratorial concept.
According to experts, the very notion that solar geoengineering is occurring and needs to be prevented is itself fundamentally flawed.
Harvard Research Group Debunks Chemtrails
A Harvard research group published a piece debunking chemtrails. The group wrote, “We have not seen any credible evidence that chemtrails exist.”
The group also stated, “If we did see any evidence that governments were endangering their own citizens in the manner alleged in the chemtrails conspiracy, we would be eager to expose and stop any such activities.”
The Sky Would Look Less Blue
Robock said if solar geoengineering was actually taking place, “it would look like what happened after a big volcanic eruption – the sky would be a little bit less blue.”
Karen Douglas, a social psychology professor at the University of Kent, said that people like to engage in conspiracy theories because “a simple explanation is often not very attractive.”
Simple Explanations Are Not Satisfying
Douglas said, “People assume that there must somehow be a bigger explanation, or more going on than people know about. The simple explanations often seem too mundane and not satisfying enough.”
The chemtrails legislation is scheduled for consideration on April 1st. If the legislation gets passed in the Tennessee House, the state’s Republican Governor Bill Lee, will ultimately take the final decision if it becomes law.
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