Florida Legislature Passes Bill to Criminalize Weather Modification Activities

The bill advanced to Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk to be signed into law.

A BQ-100 Beechcraft aircraft fitted with canisters containing Silver Iodide, Sodium Chloride and Potassium Chloride on its wings takes off during cloud seeding experiment Project Varshadhari at Jakkur Airport in the Indian city of Bangalore on Aug. 21, 2017. Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images

The Florida Legislature became the first in the nation to pass a bill criminalizing methods of weather modification and bioengineering activities such as cloud seeding.

SB 56, now bound for Gov. Ron DeSantis’s desk, states, “The injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of a chemical, a chemical compound, a substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere within the borders of this state for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, weather, climate, or intensity of sunlight is prohibited.”