What is it about natural disasters that brings out the crazy in people?
It may be that some people respond to horror and loss of the devastating and uncontrollable reality of these disasters by seeking to impose some semblance of human control — by asserting that had such and thus been done, then the natural disaster would have been easily averted.
For some politicians, it may be a simple belief that the natural disaster confirms their own loudly held views on the role of government.
In any case, politicians on both sides of the political aisle have made some regrettable comments regarding the tragic flash flooding in Texas.
While callous, downright hateful, and racist comments have been made by some folks, who have been rightly and widely blasted for those comments, others have beclowned themselves with ignorant assertions regarding the supposed cause of this devastating flood.
Predictably, a number of climate alarmists have declared that the flood was devastating due to global warming. That is a claim that simply does not hold up to the historical record, nor to scientific climatic data.
In response to that alarmist narrative, there has been a pushback from one particular Republican lawmaker, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene. Unfortunately, she is as uninformed as those pushing the alarmism and is seeding her own alarmism.
This week, Greene introduced legislation with the aim of preventing “weather modification” actions. “I am introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity. It will be a felony offense,” Greene explained.
So, is Greene asserting that humanity can control the weather? Well, yes, she is, and this is not a new position. Indeed, a year ago, after Hurricane Helene ripped through the southeastern U.S., leaving destruction in its wake, Greene insinuated that Democrats control the weather. “Yes, they can control the weather,” Greene posted on X. “Anyone who says they don’t, or makes fun of this, is lying to you. By the way, the people know it and hate all of you who try to cover it up.”
Greene’s conspiracy theory, which is exactly what it is, is based on an 80-year-old practice known as cloud seeding. This action is an effort to get rainclouds to form in drier climates by diffusing certain chemical aerosols into the atmosphere.
However, there is simply no evidence to support the claim that cloud seeding causes bigger and more dangerous storms.
As the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation explains regarding the effects of seeding, “There is no evidence that seeding causes clouds to grow substantially taller and produce unwanted effects (such as damaging winds, hail, and flash floods). … To the contrary, the available evidence from over eight years of research in West Texas suggests cloud seeding, when done timely and accurately, contributes to more gentle, widespread, and longer-lasting rains.”
In other words, far from producing massive storms, cloud seeding, if anything, results in gentler, less powerful rain showers, not the deluge that hit the hill country of Texas last week.
The irony behind Greene’s assertion is the hubris that humanity does indeed have the power to control the weather. That is effectively the same error that the climate alarmists make.
While we can and do have a localized impact upon our climate, the extent and scope of that impact are far from fully understood, let alone controlled.
