Congress debates ban on controversial weather modification practices

In July 2025, the House Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency convened a hearing discussing the subject of weather modification. This gathering, titled 'Playing God with the Weather -- a Disastrous Forecast', involved over two hours of conversation regarding the federal government's involvement in weather modification and its potential risks. The hearing arose in response to the introduction of the Clear Skies Act by Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia, advocating for a federal ban on geoengineering and weather modification practices. The discussion included legitimate scientific considerations such as solar radiation modification, often referred to as solar geoengineering, and cloud seeding. However, conflicting claims surfaced during the hearing, intertwining scientific facts with debunked theories. Some lawmakers expressed concerns that proponents of geoengineering are motivated more by the aim to control Earth’s climate rather than addressing genuine weather-related issues such as droughts or agricultural improvement. This contention was met with strong pushback, particularly from fact-checkers who highlighted that current technology does not allow for any effective climate modification on a global scale. For instance, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has conducted extensive research affirming that no meaningful climate modification attempts have occurred to date. Furthermore, claims regarding the complete removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere were challenged, as carbon dioxide is essential to life on Earth, and there are no serious efforts aimed at its total removal. The hearing also explored solar radiation modification, which targets the reflection of sunlight to lower global temperatures. Researchers have studied these methods for many years, but real-world experimentation remains limited. The White House even published a report in 2023 outlining potential pathways for this kind of research. Cloud seeding was another point of discussion, defined as a technique where silver iodide or salt particles are released into the atmosphere to boost precipitation, particularly used in parts of the western United States. Despite being used for decades, the effectiveness of cloud seeding is questioned, often showing minimal to no significant increase in rainfall. The Government Accountability Office stated that cloud seeding is mainly executed by state agencies or private companies, with estimates of precipitation boosts being unreliable. Notably, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration does not participate in or fund cloud seeding or any other weather modification endeavors. This Congressional hearing emphasized the complex relationship between government policy, scientific understanding, and experiments in the field of weather modification, prompting a need for careful consideration of the implications involved.