Wyoming committee urges Congress to ban unauthorized geoengineering after amendment fight over cloud seeding

The Agriculture, State & Public Lands & Water Resources Committee on Friday approved a joint resolution asking Congress to prohibit unauthorized atmospheric geoengineering and weather modification over Wyoming, following hours of public testimony and several amendments.

Committee members moved the resolution, 26LSO0208, through a multi‑part amendment process that added staff wording emphasizing state duties under the Tenth Amendment and directed the governor to coordinate with neighboring states and the Western Governors' Association on atmospheric policy. Lawmakers also debated whether to explicitly reference federal airspace law (49 U.S.C. 40103) and whether to exempt cloud seeding operations used for water augmentation. The committee ultimately adopted an explicit exemption for cloud seeding language and then removed direct textual references to “cloud seeding” from the resolution before the final roll call.

The measure asks Congress to prohibit unauthorized geoengineering and weather modification in the state and directs the secretary of state to transmit copies of the resolution to the…