CLIMATEWIRE | On a day when the EPA administrator elevated concerns about weather modification as his agency downplayed those worries, an outspoken House Republican said she would hold a hearing on the issue.
In a statement provided to POLITICO's E&E News, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said she plans to use her perch as a subcommittee chair on the House Oversight and Government Reform panel to investigate geoengineering, a nascent field in which chemicals are dispersed in the air to lower temperatures.
“Let’s be clear: Weather modification is no longer a ‘conspiracy theory.’ It’s real, it’s happening, and the American people deserve a voice,” said Greene, who in the past has peddled fringe theories.
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Such baseless assertions have been widespread in the aftermath of the deadly floods in Texas this past weekend, including that cloud seeding may have played a role in the disaster.
On Thursday, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin released a video empathizing with people who have questions about contrails and geoengineering, which have been fodder for online conspiracists. He did not mention the floods in Texas; the new EPA webpages mostly debunked "chemtrails" and other such theories.
In her statement Thursday, Greene said that she planned to hold a hearing of her DOGE subcommittee "on this critical issue and advancing my legislation to make it a felony to inject, release, or disperse chemicals into the atmosphere for the purpose of altering weather, climate, temperature, or sunlight.”
Moreover, this past weekend, Greene posted on social media that she planned to introduce legislation to bar such weather-changing technology. She said she was heartened by EPA's actions.
In his video Thursday, Zeldin said, “To anyone who's ever looked up to the streaks in the sky and asked, 'What the heck is going on?' or seen headlines about private actors and even governments looking to blot out the sun in the name of stopping global warming, we've endeavored to answer all of your questions at the links on your screen."
He added, “In fact, EPA shares many of the same concerns when it comes to potential threats to human health and the environment, especially from solar geoengineering activities.”
Democratic lawmakers mocked the EPA administrator for discussing contrails — the benign condensation often seen from aircraft. One called him “a full-on kook.”
In her statement, Greene said she spoke with Zeldin on Thursday morning. “I’m glad weather modification and geoengineering are finally getting the attention and transparency they deserve, and I’m greatly appreciative to the Trump administration for it,” the lawmaker said.
Some have suspected cloud seeding could have caused the drenching rain in Kerr County, Texas, leading to flooding that killed more than 100 people.
That has been deemed impossible by experts, The Washington Post reported, and dismissed by elected officials, including Republicans in the state.
“Let’s put an end to the conspiracy theories and stop blaming others,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement Wednesday.
Reporter Ellie Borst contributed.
Contact reporter Kevin Bogardus on Signal at KevinBogardus.89.
This story also appears in E&E Daily.
Reprinted from E&E News with permission from POLITICO, LLC. Copyright 2025. E&E News provides essential news for energy and environment professionals.
