Debate over weather modification bills: farmers and residents seek notice and limits; industry urges careful wording to avoid banning routine cloud seeding

Two companion measures prompted an afternoon of testimony spanning advocacy groups, local farmers and cloud-seeding companies.

Representative Kelly Patenza introduced a House resolution and a statutory bill (HB1128) aimed at limiting intentional releases of persistent substances into the atmosphere for purposes such as stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI) and other large-scale geoengineering. Patenza said the objective is transparency and consent: if a federal program or outside actor seeks to inject materials into the atmosphere with statewide effects, the state should be notified and the public given a position.

Supporters from agriculture and small farms described potential impacts to certified-organic operations and requested explicit public notice and the right to be informed ahead of any statewide deployments. Mary Murphy, an owner of a certified-organic elderberry farm, told the panel that decades of investment and soil stewardship make unannounced releases intolerable.

Industry and technical witnesses urged sharper drafting. Grayson Gee of Rainmaker Technology, a firm that performs localized cloud seeding in the western U.S., asked the committee to distinguish long-standing cloud-seeding practice (targeted, conditional precipitation enhancement) from global-scale stratospheric aerosol injection research. Rainmaker's representative said cloud seeding uses small quantities of material; it depends on suitable clouds and does not create storms or change sunlight in the stratosphere.

DEES staff said the department has received complaints and questions about spraying but has no internal technical expertise in stratospheric aerosol proposals or the science behind some geoengineering concepts; DEES said it would need to draw on external experts or federal partners for detailed review.

What members asked and next steps

Lawmakers asked for definitions and narrower language to avoid accidentally banning routine, locally consented cloud seeding while preserving the ability to oppose large-scale, unconsented atmospheric injections. Several members urged clarifying language and definitions for "weather modification," "cloud seeding," and what constitutes an "emergency" before the committee advances statutory changes.

Speakers attributed

- Kelly Patenza, Representative (sponsor) - Mary Murphy, organic farmer (public commenter) - Grayson Gee, Rainmaker Technology (industry)

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