The legislative Joint Agriculture Committee spent three hours and 15 minutes last week protecting us from contrails – the white stuff that trails behind airplanes.
According to NASA, “Contrails are a type of ice cloud, formed by aircraft as water vapor condenses around small dust particles, which provide the vapor with sufficient energy to freeze.”
They can also form when water vapor from the airplane’s engines collide with the water vapor in the air.
The discussion, debate and critical insight the committee exhibited is an example of the Freedom Caucus’ leadership. Everyone in Wyoming should watch this legislative hearing and judge the quality of our committee with it.
The hearing can be found here. The debate on contrails begins at 1:07:57 and continues until 4:23.15.
Watching the debate is like watching an Adam Rose construction accident video on the internet. You know it is going to be bad, but you still cannot look away.
Without much critical thought, the committee advanced a bill which, if it becomes law, would make the following activities a felony: (i) Solar radiation management; (ii) Stratospheric aerosol injection; (iii) Weather modification; (iv) Atmospheric polluting interventions, including dispersal of atmospheric contaminants.
The bill describes the illegal means for dispersing contaminants. Those methods include: employing aircraft, drones, balloons, rockets, artillery, space-based platforms or ground-based facilities for the intentional release or dispersal of atmospheric contaminants.
What could possibly be a ground-based source for the intentional release of atmospheric contaminants?
Could fossil fuel burning power plants, gasoline powered cars, railroad engines or heavy equipment be made illegal by this bill?
The language is sloppy and could yield a tool to put the fossil fuel industry out of business. Its language captures exhaust from non-agricultural power plants, cars, trucks or heavy equipment.
Of course, all ag-related uses are exempted.
We’ll have to switch to a different power economy powered by wind, solar and nuclear power.
Who knew that the Freedom Caucus bought into the Andrea Ocasio Cortez Green New Deal?
The bill has confusing circular language including exceptions for aviation, space or ground activities unrelated to geoengineering, weather modification or solar radiation management, including commercial, agricultural, research, defense or emergency operations permitted by law.
Did the proponents on the committee intend to outlaw only government and private activities?
If aviation is exempted, what is the purpose of the bill?
Despite the bill excepting the defense activities, in a debate about dumping chaff (little bits of metal dumped from military aircraft to disrupt radar) in the sky and the absence of chaff floating to the ground, State Sen. Laura Talliaferro Pearson, R-Kemmerer, observed (starting at 3:06:34):
“I feel in a lot of ways it is our Department of Defense that is doing a lot this this to us . . . And when it says scatter sunlight, I worry that it is keeping the sunlight from us. So . . . if that’s what they’re doing and that’s their intent, to keep the sunlight from us or scatter the sunlight in the name of this climate control thing, then . . . you know I disagree with it, and so . . . I want to keep it [the language about chaff] in.”
One wonders if the Freedom Caucus actually believes Donald Trump’s Department of War is trying to erase Wyoming’s blue skies?
The penalties included in the bill are severe.
First offenders can face up to two years in prison and up to $100,000 in fines.
Second and subsequent offenders can face up to five years, $500,000. Each day of making contrails would be a separate felony, if this bill becomes law.
Driving a gas-powered car to work every day just got very expensive.
To enforce this bill, Wyoming is going to have to purchase a fleet of interceptors (I prefer F15s) to zoom up to the stratosphere and sample the air.
Wyoming’s interceptors will not be able to use chaff.
The bill seeks to criminalize saying anything bad about people who report contrails. No one can retaliate against anyone in a chaff hat who, in good faith, reports a contrail over Wyoming.
The state is going to have to employ a phone bank for every “concerned citizen” who calls in, reporting an airplane flying overhead.
The state better get a bigger budget.
I also wonder if anyone has sampled the water supply for the Joint Agriculture committee for hallucinogens?
The Ag Committee should really focus on important stuff like protecting us from the alien invasion force coming to earth on Comet 3I/ATLAS.
Tom Lubnau served in the Wyoming Legislature from 2004 - 2015 and is a former Speaker of the House. He can be reached at: YourInputAppreciated@gmail.com
