When the EPA opens its files on contrails, conspiracies meet accountability.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is elevating concerns over potential weather modifying technology as questions have swirled around the cause of catastrophic flooding in Texas.

The agency is sharing new information about contrails, the center of conspiracies on climate-related experiments, military operations and what some have claimed could be behind the disaster that has killed more than 100 people. Some have blamed human meddling with the weather, saying cloud seeding was responsible for the tragedy.

On Thursday, Zeldin said he asked his staff to compile everything EPA knows about contrails and geoengineering and release it to the public, resulting in new agency webpages.

“For years, people who ask questions in good faith were dismissed, even vilified by the media and their own government,” Zeldin said in a video. “That era is over. The Trump EPA is committed to total transparency.”

Contrails are condensation tracks that sometimes form behind airplanes if there is a certain level of moisture in the atmosphere. The agency’s updated webpage reaffirms broad scientific consensus, adding explanations on the differences between contrails and chemtrails, the term used for theories that the cloud trails are a product of chemicals intentionally sprayed into the atmosphere.

It addresses the “numerous conspiracies over the years” tying chemtrails to Defense Department operations. “EPA is not aware of any scientific evidence that supports any claim that any nefarious activities are taking place,” the webpage says.

“Instead of simply dismissing these questions and concerns as baseless conspiracies, we’re meeting them head on,” Zeldin said. “We did the legwork, looked at the science, consulted agency experts, and pulled in relevant outside information to put these online resources together.”

Scrutiny instead is centered around solar geoengineering, experimental technology that promises to reduce hot temperatures by spraying chemicals into the air.

Zeldin in April announced the agency ordered the solar engineering firm Make Sunsets to hand over data on its “cooling credit” operations.

Updates published online Thursday morning say the company’s releases of the greenhouse gas sulfur dioxide are “extraordinarily low,” but “EPA is conducting an internal review of any current authorities that can be utilized to halt this activity, especially if it significantly scales up.”

“The enthusiasm for experiments that would pump pollutants into the high atmosphere has set off alarm bells here at the Trump EPA,” Zeldin said. “This is what it looks like when government actually listens to the will of the people and doesn’t try to squash it.”

Asked if Zeldin’s announcement Thursday was related to the recent floods in Texas, EPA spokesperson Carolyn Holran said, “The Trump EPA planned long ago to release these new online resources today, which the agency had been working on for months.”

The spokesperson added, “EPA stands ready to help Texans get back on their feet in the wake of this tragedy. EPA is in constant contact with TCEQ and FEMA and is closely monitoring the situation.”

Democratic lawmakers ridiculed Zeldin for discussing contrails Thursday.

“The EPA Administrator is a full-on kook,” Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.) said on social media.

And Virginia Democratic Rep. Don Beyer posted, “There are scientists who work at the Environmental Protection Agency who could explain water vapor and condensation to [Zeldin] but unfortunately he is trying to fire all of them.”

EPA has long dealt with conspiracies about chemtrails and weather-changing technology. In 2014, Janet McCabe, then the agency’s acting air chief, rebutted the conspiracy theory in response to a Republican lawmaker sharing concerns from a constituent.

“The EPA is not aware of any deliberate actions to release chemical or biological agents into the atmosphere for geoengineering purposes or otherwise,” McCabe said in a letter.

Zeldin isn’t the first member of Trump’s Cabinet to raise concerns about contrails.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, has long doubted broad scientific consensus about the phenomenon. He reupped concerns in March with a request that followers of his “Make America Healthy Again” movement take up geoengineering as one of their issues.

“24 States move to ban geoengineering our climate by dousing our citizens, our waterways and landscapes with toxins. This is a movement every MAHA needs to support. HHS will do its part,” Kennedy said in the post on X.

But Kennedy hasn’t ruled out the question of chemical aerosols from military jets.

“It’s done, we think, by DARPA [Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency],” Kennedy said in May on the Dr. Phil talk show. “And a lot of it now is coming out of the jet fuel. You know, those materials are put in jet fuel. I’m going to do everything in my power to stop it.”

Kennedy praised Zeldin for taking action.

“Im so proud of my friend Lee Zeldin and President Donald Trump for their commitment to finally shatter the Deep State Omerta regarding the diabolical mass poisoning of our people, our communities,our waterways and farms, and our purple mountains, majesty,” Kennedy said in a post on X on Thursday.

Weather modification bill coming

With the issue of climate-related tech spewing toxic chemicals resurfacing in the wake of the Texas floods, some far-right circles have been amplifying theories that weather-altering technologies caused the Kerr County floods. Some lawmakers have taken note.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) over the weekend announced plans to introduce a bill that would make weather-changing tech a felony, mirroring legislation that has passed in at least two dozen states.

Greene promoted her bill again in a post on the social media site X on Thursday morning thanking Zeldin for taking action.

Alec Ernst, a spokesperson for Greene, said the congresswoman’s weather modification bill “was not inspired by the events in Texas,” sharing a number of social media posts from her on the matter.

“Yes they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done,” Greene said in a post last year after Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc in Southeastern states.

“Congresswoman Greene has long discussed this issue, and this bill has been in the works for a while,” said Ernst, adding that the final bill text is not ready yet.

Other Republicans have sought to knock down beliefs that intentional altering of the weather led to the floods.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement Wednesday that “there has been a lot of misinformation flying around lately” and his department “has absolutely no connection to cloud seeding or any form of weather modification.”

“Let’s put an end to the conspiracy theories and stop blaming others,” Miller said. “Our priority should be the recovery efforts in the Texas Hill Country, as we stand in solidarity with our fellow Texans.”

https://www.eenews.net/articles/zeldin-confronts-furor-over-weather-tampering-vows-total-transparency/