- Tennessee’s General Assembly on Monday passed bill SB2691, which "prohibit[s] the intentional injection, release, or dispersion" of chemicals or similar substances into the atmosphere "with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight." Capitol
- The bill was sponsored by state Rep. Monty Fritts and state Sen. Steve Southerland, both Republicans, who say there was "widespread documentation" of geoengineering, practices that use chemical compounds to manage climate change and "solar impact." WKRN.com
- Geoengineering is a largely theoretical concept that includes wide-ranging proposals aimed at counteracting climate change. Hypothetical examples include reflecting sunlight back into space to lower the temperature and cloud seeding. WION
- Tennessee lawmakers focused on the issue last year after the federal government released a report on solar geoengineering — reflecting sunlight into space. The White House said there were no plans to "establish a comprehensive research program focused on solar radiation modification." BBC News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Republican Gov. Bill Lee is ready to sign the bill into law so it will take effect July 1. Other states, including Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Kentucky, and Minnesota have introduced similar legislation. BBC News (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- The bill makes no reference to chemtrails or any similar theory, despite critics claiming it relates to the theory that airplanes are spraying government-made chemicals into the sky instead of condensation trails. NBC (LR: 2 CP: 4)
Democratic narrative:
- Republicans have gone off the rails. This is a case of them spreading debunked conspiracy theories and passing a law to ban something that's non-existent. The conspiracy theories aside, this bill focuses on geoengineering, which is an undefined collection of hypothetical practices that have never been tested. This is a waste of time and resources.
IFLSCIENCE
Republican narrative:
- Democrats and their media allies want to smear Republicans over this bill, but there's no mention of "chemtrails" and it in fact deals with geoengineering — a practice the government released a report about last year. Some media pundits are changing their tune about geoengineering and Republicans will continue to fight the lies and protect their constituents.
TENNESSEE CONSERVATIVE
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 3% chance that a geoengineering act of Congress will become US federal law by the end of 2024, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)