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Tennessee Passes 'Chemtrail' Bill Banning Airborne Chemicals 202

Posted by msmash from the how-about-that dept.
vik writes: According to this BBC article Tennessee just passed a bill banning the dispersion of chemicals in the air that affect weather and temperature. Sponsored by the chemtrail and anti-geoengineering crowds, if signed into law it seems it would ban atmospheric CO2 emissions:

The bill forbids "intentional injection, release, or dispersion" of chemicals into the air. It doesn't explicitly mention chemtrails, which conspiracy theorists believe are poisons spread by planes. Instead it broadly prohibits "affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight". The Republican-sponsored bill passed along party lines on Monday. If it is signed by Tennessee's governor, Republican Bill Lee, it will go into effect on 1 July.

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Tennessee Passes 'Chemtrail' Bill Banning Airborne Chemicals More

Tennessee Passes 'Chemtrail' Bill Banning Airborne Chemicals

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  • Lifts left cheek. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Press2ToContinue ( 2424598 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:43AM (#64366618)
    Emits methane.

  • So no planes are to fly over Tennessee? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by gtall ( 79522 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:43AM (#64366620)

    Any plane leaves a "chemtrail"....a Conspiracy, they are all in on it.

    • And it intentionally releases CO2, that's part of the design function.

      • Re: So no planes are to fly over Tennessee? (Score:4, Informative)

        by mikeebbbd ( 3690969 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @11:49AM (#64367072)

        So FedEx will have to move out of Memphis? End air service to Nashville and elsewhere in the state? Ban cars and trucks, or at least those with removed/modified emission controls (which are already illegal under federal law, and arguably it's not "intentional" if the emission controls are there and working), or ban anything bigger than a smallish sedan without a commercial license and plates? As for flyovers, those are federally regulated so the state can't do anything about them. The rest - could be an interesting states rights battle. Under the Clean Air Act, the feds preempt for cars unless a state chooses to follow California's rules. Anyway, broad, sweeping prohibitions that don't make sense is par for the course in that part of the US.

    • Tennessee will be a quieter and more relaxing place to live. I hope this succeeds and my state follows. I hear another plane going overhead as I type this... I don't fly so it makes banning all planes a-ok to me.

      -Lawns and all that

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        by dgatwood ( 11270 )

        Tennessee will be a quieter and more relaxing place to live. I hope this succeeds and my state follows. I hear another plane going overhead as I type this... I don't fly so it makes banning all planes a-ok to me.

        I'm gonna laugh when an activist litigator forces TVA to shut down all of their power plants and drain Land Between the Lakes. I'm also going to laugh when they file suits against every legislator who owns an automobile. Ooh. This could be so exciting!

    • Any plane leaves a "chemtrail"....a Conspiracy, they are all in on it.

      I think it depends on the conspiracy.

      If the "chemtrail" is merely intended for (quoting Wikipedia) "psychological manipulation, human population control, biological or chemical warfare, or testing of biological or chemical agents" no worries your in the clear.

      Those producing a "chemtrail" for "solar radiation management or weather modification" best be looking over their shoulders.

  • Leaded avgas is still fine though right? (Score:4, Insightful)

    by sims 2 ( 994794 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:43AM (#64366622)

    Leaded avgas is still fine though right?

    We're only banning fictional problems not actual ones right?

    • Fictional ones only, obviously. Were they serious about this they would apply that law to abandoned mines spewing methane into the air, which is a more potent green house case than carbon dioxide.

      • Maybe they should start doing what we've been doing in Colorado for many years: seal off the coal mines and harvest the methane for use as natural gas. That way, they turn a major greenhouse gas into profit at little cost.

    • Sulfur Dioxide says hello.

  • what a fun (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tom ( 822 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:44AM (#64366628) Homepage Journal

    "affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight".

    In other words: Tennessee has just outlawed clouds.

    They're chemicals (H2O is definitely a chemical) and they affect the intensity of sunlight.

    • "In other words: Tennessee has just outlawed clouds."

      Clouds, hell. They just outlawed *breathing.*

    • Last I checked, clouds were not typically intentionally created. Theyâ(TM)ve banned cloud seeding, but not clouds. Theyâ(TM)ve also banned breathing; aeroplanes; cars; pretty much all industry;â¦

    • Geoengineering is an entirely serious pursuit, and is basically the belief that chemtrails could be done to positive effect.

      The chemtrails people are sort of right, they're just confused about what the harmful chemicals are, and who is dispersing them, and why. The harmful chemicals are greenhouse gasses and the people dispersing them is all of us (and especially those of us in north america) and the motive is comfort, convenience, and entertainment.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DarkOx ( 621550 )

      You're trying mock them; however yes they have outlawed clouds.

      Well no they have not outlawed clouds, they have outlawed the manufacture of clouds or at least doing so with the intent to alter the climate. Which seems to be what the proponents of the law were concerned about, they want to ban climate engineering.

      Which I think is probably short sighted, as climate engineering is probably the ONLY reasonable way to successful address climate change. However if you stated the question a different way, "Did you

    • Tennessee has just outlawed clouds.

      I'd like to see them try to serve papers on the guy that put them up there.

    • Nah, H2O has been grandfathered in, like how acetone is not legally considered a volatile organic compound (VOC).

  • This also bans guns (Score:5, Interesting)

    by DarkRookie2 ( 5551422 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:48AM (#64366636)
    This would also banning the using of firearm since that reaction releases chemicals known to "affect temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight".

    • While I'd love to see that be the case, the bill says "intentionally". It's simple enough to argue that the intention when shooting a gun is to shoot something, and the release of those chemicals is an unintended consequence of such action. Much like farting and gassing yourself is an unintended result of keeping yourself from having worse gastrointestinal issues.

  • flies and mosquitoes with fly swatter again...

  • So what are they going to do about crop dusters? The tobacco industry is not going to like this.

  • Coal fired power plants (Score:4, Informative)

    by stinkydog ( 191778 ) <sd@stran g e d o g . net> on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:59AM (#64366678) Homepage

    Coal fired power plants inject chemicals into the air that affect weather and temperature. Going to be a dark summer in Tennessee until they repeal this.

    SD

    • The sooner those get shut down, the better.

      TVA is mostly hydro and nuclear these days anyway. More fossil gas than there should be, and not nearly enough wind or solar, but the last TVA coal plant will be shut down by 2035, there are only 4 left now. One got shut down last year, the next one is scheduled for 2027.

      • Well you better shutter those natgas turbines, because they emit CO2 which affects temperature and weather.

        Time to start buying electricity from out-of-state generation sources because the Tennessee legislature decided to make energy far more expensive for no reason at all.

        • While I absolutely want those shut down too, this won't do inherently do anything about it.

          Those turbines are owned by the feds.

          I absolutely WILL laugh if Biden decides to use this as a reason to order TVA to start building more solar and wind, because that will actually be good, and I know that's the exact opposite of what the loonies who voted for this want.

  • Slippery Slope Greased and Ready (Score:4, Interesting)

    by nightflameauto ( 6607976 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @09:59AM (#64366682)

    Considering how the anti-abortion movement managed to trip over their own bullshit into IVF issues, this statement seems to be heading in a dangerous direction:

    Instead it broadly prohibits "affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight".

    Can't wait to see what direction the slippery slope tips when this one hits the courts.

  • Enforcability (Score:3)

    by JustNiz ( 692889 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @10:00AM (#64366688)

    How the heck is anyone actually going to enforce this?
    Apart from anything else and assuming a federal secret chemtrail program actually exists, the fed wouldn't give a flying fuck about such laws.

  • Governing fantasy based on conspiracy and fear. Way to go Tennessee!

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Pascoea ( 968200 )
      Well, considering your statement could be construed as summarizing organized religion, are you surprised at something like this coming out of the bible belt?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by Tablizer ( 95088 )

      Trump proved you can be totally detached from reality and still get votes: The 5th Ave. Factor. It's now the GOP's general playbook.

      All you have to do is say everything outside one's home-town is fake or rigged by those who wish to overthrow your (alleged) wonderful Jesus-endorsed culture and turn your children into perverted drag queens.

      Sounds silly, but dammit, it "works" in the sticks.

    • We just lived through the Covid-19 years; are you surprised?
  • All aircraft emit chemicals, so I guess they'll have to ban all aircraft in Tennessee.

    • And fossil fuel based electricity generation.
      And any form of industry that emits greenhouse gases (petroleum refining, steel / aluminum refining, etc.)
      And crop dusting tobacco fields.
      And cars.
      And guns.
      And breathing.

  • Whatever the law was intended to ban, anyone can easily sidestep the law and continue doing the banned activity by releasing the chemicals or whatever with a new intent, such as to provide entertainment - just form the chemtrail into skywriting like the old days. You don't intend the bad effects, you are skywriting with chemtrails, and any bad effects are just incidentals but your intentions remain good.

  • banning the dispersion of chemicals in the air

    So they are banning the largest source, Taco Bell?

    Thanks, I’ll be here all week. Tip your waitstaff

  • I wish the movie was a comedy and not a prophecy...

    It makes me wonder what happened to us...

  • There is no such thing as "chemtrails" so they can ban that if they want but the mass emission of CO2 does do those things and so they are hurting their rich friends!.

    And all those contrails that the stupids get stresses about are water so they will continue unchanged...

    • It's not just their rich friends.

      If CO2 is considered in-scope, they've just outlawed transportation in their state. Cars, trucks, trains, planes, boats - they all emit CO2, NO2, CO, H20 into the atmosphere in the course of normal operation. FedEx's Memphis cargo hub is going to love them for that, as well as the hundreds of people FedEx employs to handle all that cargo.

      Oh, the tobacco industry is going to love the de facto ban on crop dusting as well.

      And all those gun loving, hunting Tennesseans? Nope -

  • ... there is some logic behind such a law. States that are dependent on agriculture might want a law on the books to prevent someone going upwind, seeding the clouds for rain and causing a drought downwind.

    • ... while at the same time banning crop dusting with the same legislative action, as it's essentially a low-altitude version of emitting a "chemtrail".

      The tobacco industry is going to LOVE that.

  • ... no-fly zone.

    Maybe the smartest people in that state are the tourists.

  • I can’t wait to see the commerce clause being used by the feds to run roughshod over it (as it should be)

  • Biggest conspiracy in the world (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bkmoore ( 1910118 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @11:12AM (#64366972)
    Sarcasm: As a pilot, they pay us an extra $50 each month to keep chemtrails secret. I also get an extra $20 each month to pretend the world is a sphere, and I intentionally waste time and fuel by flying a curved flight path over a flat earth to keep the secret a secret. If I fly too far, my airplane bounces off the wall, just like in the Truman Show, and goes the other way. So for $70 each month, I keep all these government secrets... And it's not only pilots. The people in the aircraft maintenance, and manufacturing get an extra $20 each month, so if the chemtrail system breaks, they fix it with parts from thousands of parts suppliers. So the parts manufacturers are in on the secret, and they have to be paid. The minimum-wage airport workers get an extra $2 each month to not mention chemtrails or the chemicals they have to upload onto the airplanes. Maybe that's why they quit faster than minimum-wage McDonalds workers, but then again, or just maybe it's working outdoors in the Winter in Minneapolis....

    There are literally millions of workers who would have to keep it a secret. There are supply chains for the chemicals, the aircraft plumbing, and all the support equipment. In aviation, every aircraft maintenance action is documented, so there would be a paper trail. This is literally such a huge conspiracy that nobody has bothered to follow the money, or inspect the airplanes, inspect the maintenance records, or the parts supply chains, or measure the air around airports, or do anything. It's so easy to get on a keyboard, and make unsubstantiated claims, but nobody seems to consider that it would literally take 100s of thousands of poorly-paid minimum-wage airport workers to keep it a secret, and it wouldn't be a secret for very long, since the first one who goes public could literally cash in for millions by spilling the beans. The problem I have with conspiracies, is they're always demanding that you prove a negative, when the burden of proof is on the conspiracy theorist making the claim. If you believe in chemtrails, flat earth, vaccine conspiracies, aliens, etc. then prove it. Nobody owes you their precious time proving a negative. The fact that the legislature in Tennessee is wasting time with this just shows how ignorant they are, or how ignorant and backwards the political base is that they're pandering to. I guess solving real-world problems takes both leadership and money, and it's easier for corrupt and inept politicians to invent fictitious problems they can "solve". The people of Tennessee deserve better representation. Maybe the reason the fly-over States are struggling economically isn't coastal elites. Maybe the real reason is their own political choices that they have made over many decades have held them back.

  • States are Not allowed to regulate anything about the efficiency or safety of the airspace. The FAA Administrator has the sole authority over the navigable airspace of the United States.

    That should include what aircraft are allowed to fly over their state. Although the state can regulate takeoffs and landing, Not the activities which occur in the air.

    • This. The regulation of air pollutant emissions is generally preempted by the federal government, with carve-outs for California and when EPA assigns certain things to states for enforcement. Regulation of interstate travel is preempted by the feds too, and interstate commerce generally. Plus, there's a big weasel-word: "intentional," which lets a lot be emitted as a byproduct of doing other things (like shooting varmints). So, I'd still lay in a store of popcorn to watch the entertainment if there's any se

  • If we go on the assumption the governor will sign this bill, Republicans have finally reached their long wished for goal of killing everything. The words "intentional injection, release, or dispersion" of chemicals into the air, means no life can exist in Tennessee since all life releases or disperses chemicals into the air that affect temperature and weather. This includes all the cows and deer in the state.

    As for chemiclas that affect temperature and weather, they can't shoot any gun in the state of Tenn

  • But what about Dihydrogen Monoxide? (Score:4, Funny)

    by OwnedByTwoCats ( 124103 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @11:32AM (#64367024)

    Did the bill exempt Dihydrogen Monoxide? Very dangerous stuff! Definitely weather-affecting.
    https://dhmo.org.
    Not to mention Carbon Dioxide, Sulfur Oxides, Nitrogen Oxides. Those aircraft are intentionally spewing all of these chemicals into our atmosphere! It must stop, at least over Tennessee.

  • This is a state that has already shown that they are petty and can't think, so of course their going to waste time with legislation like this.

  • This sounds like it would ban all cars, motorcycles, outdoor power equipment, farming and landfills too.

  • "Walking in Memphis" is about to become a crime.

  • Tennessee may ban vaccine-infused lettuce next. https://www.newsweek.com/repub... [newsweek.com]

    The truly sad part is that none of these idiots is either ashamed or fearful of losing an election because the Tennessee electorate has clearly become that deluded.

    It is doubly tragic that nobody in Tennesse feels any shame for having elected such useless fools to represent them.

  • This bill is literally one sentence long (Score:4, Funny)

    by WaffleMonster ( 969671 ) on Wednesday April 03, 2024 @11:54AM (#64367096)

    No reason not to have quoted it in full in the summary:

    "The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals,
    chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the
    atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity
    of the sunlight is prohibited."

  • Wait, let me get this straight. A conservative conspiracy theory got put into an actual bill in a state and passed that would result in the most strict environmental controls in the world, a mostly left-leaning political point?

    I think the left should learn from this. Don't ridicule the right, rather feed the conspiracy theories to get things passed.

    • Apparently the bill requires intent, so you can fuck up the environment all you want if it's for some reason other than fucking up the environment. What it will block is any attempt to correct the aforementioned fucking up of the environment.

      These people are cartoonishly stupid and deliberately choosing to be enemies of mankind.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Thud457 ( 234763 )
      You want a conspiracy theory? Here's one for ya -

      Have you noticed how things seem to have started falling apart about the time they banned Tetraethyllead [wikipedia.org]?
      It's almost like stopping suppressing IQs gave enough people just enough extra mental horsepower to spin idiot conspiracy theories but not enough to see the obvious logical fallacies involved.

  • This was out there on other sites last week. I read the bill, it's pretty short. My first thought was "What about crop dusting?" but if you RTFB, you see that you have to be releasing those chemicals for the *purpose* of affecting the things on the list. So. It doesn't ban contrails, crop dusting, or other normal activities. It's still silly, it's just that it seems to cover most of what people might see as unintended consequences--except possibly cloud seeding, which isn't very common anyway.

  • Stripping away the preface section, the entire text of the bill: Amendment 1, SA0653: http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bill... [tn.gov]

    SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 68, Chapter 201, Part 1, is amended by adding the following as a new section:
    The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is

    • The intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight is prohibited.
      SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2024, the public welfare requiring it.

      A plain reading of this measure would prohibit intentional operation of any air-breathing engine within the state as of July 1, 2024, including anything with a coal-, gas- or diesel-powered engine, whether operated on land, sea or air, as they all necessarily release CO2 into the atmosphere, affecting temperature and weather. Arguably, even the TVA nuclear plants, which release H2O on a massive scale from their cooling towers must cease operating. Better do your best not to fart, as only unintentional emissions are permissible.

      I disagree with this "plain reading". The bill clearly doesn't prohibit doing these things it prohibits doing them only for a very specific reason.

      Say you drove a gas guzzling POS around town because you were running errands, going to work, site seeing..etc. Yes you may be "affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight" yet this is not prohibited by the bill because your actions were not the express purpose of driving.

      Now slap a bumper sticker on the back of your POS that reads "I'm onl

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      Only if you're both scientifically illiterate AND generally illiterate.

      Hint: "express purpose"

      They're banning cloud seeding. That's it.

  • Sounds like this bill could be read to ban all spraying from aircraft. That would include pesticides, mosquito fogging, and so on.

  • If the bill is signed into law then from 1st July fireworks may be illegal in Tennessee. Good timing!

  • I'm driving my shitbox for the express purpose of pissing off the greenies. Is that OK?

  • the confusion here is that most don't realize that Politicians (in general) aren't actually that interested in getting things done, rather they are interested in pandering to their constituents so that they get re-elected and can maintain that hold on power. If Tennesseans believe in the fallacy that chemtrails are spread by the government to kill them, then Tennessean Politicians vote to make it illegal... then crow about it to their constituents.

    Just as an aside, it is legal to marry a cousin in 25 stat

  • Oh no, they're retarded!

    Oh no, they're from Tennessee!

    ...but I repeat myself.

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