Yes, Iowa really are drafting a law to ban something that does not actually exist – Chemtrails.
High-flying aircraft leave long lasting condensation trails, and so fools have looked up for decades and concluded that those are all part of some nefarious plot to spray chemical agents on them.
What are the various claims?
There exists a vast array of whacky ideas such as – weather modification, psychological manipulation, human population control, and much much more.
You and I know that such claims are BS and so we simply roll our eyes or even laugh at the crazy claims.
So why do such crazy ideas get any traction?
Like many of the weird claims that pop up, there is a small nugget of reality that has been grasped hold of and transformed into something that is total fantasy. What is true is that attempts at weather modification via cloud seeding have been tried, with only minimal degrees of success, and even then the conditions for anything has to be just right.
A study conducted by the United States National Academy of Sciences failed to find statistically significant support for cloud seeding’s effectiveness. Based on its findings, Stanford University ecologist Jerry Bradley said: “I think you can squeeze out a little more snow or rain in some places under some conditions, but that’s quite different from a program claiming to reliably increase precipitation.”
Sadly because so many watch various B movies where the plot line involves some crazy power-mad scientist manipulating the weather, many think it really is a big deal and a daily occurrence.
OK, briefly back to the question, why is such stuff taken seriously?
We humans are wired up psychologically to attribute external events to be potential warning of danger from other entities. Picture in your mind our distant ancestors arriving at a cave in a storm seeking shelter. But wait, they pause because they hear a rustling inside. No, it’s just the storm so they enter unprepared and a bear is grateful that lunch has delivered itself. Those that considered there was a danger awaiting them entered prepared with spears at the ready and successfully overcame the bear.
We have evolved and been naturally selected for survival, not truth.
We are the descendants of those that would, upon seeing or hearing anything odd, would go on high alert and defend themselves successfully and so survived.
If there had been no bear and it really was just the wind, the false positive would be no big deal, they still survive.
The price we now pay of that naturally selected survival skill is that anything and everything unusual or beyond our control is deemed to be part of some dark conspiracy, a danger.
We humans just love easy but wrong answers. It gives us the comfort of understanding, a mission, a purpose, and actions we can take to control it, even when it is not real.
Oh but wait, what about …
Sigh! …
We have pictures like this doing the rounds …
… and this …
That’s a cue for some to chip in with, “So there you go then, will you actually deny photographic evidence?”
Yes, yes I really will, because the above needs a bit of context.
The first is an Airbus A380 with water-filled tanks to simulate passenger weight for different takeoff and landing displacement weights during testing. The second, yep, the same, but in a prototype Boeing 747 flight-test.
If you ever do indeed see what appears to be contrails above and wonder if that is a real commercial flight or “them”, then simply get out your mobile, and use the FlightRadar24 app (or similar) to see what flight that is, where it is scheduled to fly from, and where it is going.
OK, let’s now get into the details of the latest news.
What is happening in Iowa?
On Feb 14th the news landed that the Iowa House GOP had advanced an anti-‘chemtrails’ bill.
Yes really!
They are passing a law to ban something that does not actually exist.
The bill is specifically worded to ban the intentional emission of air contaminants into the atmosphere with the intent of changing the weather, so I guess doing so for some of the other whacky claims is just fine then.
It’s an issue House Speaker Pat Grassley said his constituents brought to his attention.
“Some would just say well it isn’t happening,” Rep. Grassley said. “Others would say it is happening. I think it’s something we need to have a discussion about as a legislature.”
Er … no. Seriously just no. Lawmakers need to act when presented with solid evidence of something that needs to be addressed, and not act when presented with wild bizarre claims that are devoid of all credible evidence.
But wait, this is the GOP, so yes, facts and reality don’t matter, and thus we get 23 Republicans (yes count them by name) who have jointly created House File 191 …
…and it has already been recommended for progression …
This, ladies and gentlemen is today’s GOP.
Meanwhile the adults in the room have a few thoughts on all of this …
“I don’t see any motivation or evidence that this is happening,” State Rep. Ken Croken (D-Davenport) said. “Nor do I see any benefit the perpetrators of these alleged actions.”…
…”If we are concerned about air quality there are many bigger fish that we should go after rather than a suggestion that somebody believes that somebody unnamed is doing something unclarified to cause us illness,” Rep. Croken said.
It is not just Iowa
To be clear, Iowa are not in any way pioneering stupidity but instead are simply doing a “me too“. Other GOP led states have already made similar bans.
Via other news reports we can learn who pioneered this lunacy …
Tennessee became the first state last year to enact a law banning geoengineering. Other states, including Kentucky, Arizona and Florida, have followed suit by introducing legislation eyeing a ban on geoengineering, which describes a range of large-scale interventions in the Earth’s natural systems to directly combat climate change.
What next?
Laws to ban Leprechauns and Fairies, or perhaps laws to declare Pi is just 3.
How about a law declaring that the earth is flat?
About here would be the correct place for you to now facepalm (assuming of course you have not already done that).
To be honest, there is one sliver lining to all this. If indeed the lunatics within the asylum prefer to burn their valuable time in the pursuit of utterly pointless laws to solve problems that don’t actually exist, then that gives them far less time to do some of their truly horrendous stuff some elected officials have chosen to devote themselves to, such as attempts to enact anti-trans and anti-gay legislation.
Meanwhile, what do the public think?
Via public comments you can see lots of stuff like this …
… and rinse and repeat the above many times over.
… and the reason we have stupid people elected to office is because … well yes, you can finish that thought for me.
I do have to seriously wonder if somebody really is spraying stuff over Iowa that impacts their critical thinking skills.
Further Reading
- Wikipedia – Chemtrail conspiracy theory
- Des Moins Register – Iowa joins GOP-led states in advancing anti-‘chemtrails’ bill banning geoengineering
- The HF 191 Iowa Bill