Marjorie Taylor Greene wants weather modification to be a felony and the internet reacts: “She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about”

Once again, as tragedy strikes, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is spreading conspiracy theories about the causes of catastrophic natural disasters. On July 5, just days after devastating floods in Texas killed at least 119 people and left more than 170 missing, the congresswoman posted on X about legislation she plans to introduce in the House of Representatives targeting weather manipulation.

“I am introducing a bill that prohibits the injection, release, or dispersion of chemicals or substances into the atmosphere for the express purpose of altering weather, temperature, climate, or sunlight intensity,” wrote Rep. Taylor Greene. She added that violations would be considered a felony offense.

The bill targets geoengineering, a controversial set of practices that includes cloud seeding, which can be used to induce rainfall, among other techniques.

The Georgia lawmaker said the bill was the result of her time “researching weather modification and working with the legislative counsel.”

There is no evidence that the flooding in Texas was caused by geoengineering. Nor is this the first time Greene has suggested that weather manipulation is behind deadly natural disasters.

MTG’s track record of blaming weather modification during natural disasters

After Hurricane Helene—which killed at least 227 people in 2024—Greene posted on X: “Yes, they can control the weather. It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”

In 2018, before being elected to Congress, Greene blamed California wildfires on “Jewish space lasers”—a conspiracy theory involving PG&E and the Rothschild family. The comments were widely condemned, and after her election, Greene was barred from serving on committees during her first term.

In January 2025, during wildfires in Malibu and Altadena, she questioned why geoengineering wasn’t being used to make it rain, writing that if such technology exists, it should be deployed to extinguish fires.

Experts reject claims Texas floods can be blamed on cloud seeding

This week, the Georgia representative stated that she was “accepting apologies” for those who doubted that the floods in Texas were caused by cloud seeding. The post was flagged by Community Notes on X, for misrepresenting the impact of cloud seeding.

The congresswoman’s comments were met with criticism across social media. Matthew Cappucci, an atmospheric scientist, posted on X: “It’s not a political statement for me as a Harvard-degreed atmospheric scientist to say that elected representative Marjorie Taylor Green doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about.”

What is cloud seeding?

Clouds form when water vapor in the atmosphere cools and condenses around tiny particles, such as dust or ice nuclei, that are floating in the air. When the tiny water droplets or ice crystals that form become too heavy, they fall to the Earth as precipitation.

Cloud seeding is a process that enhances the ability of clouds to produce precipitation by adding more of these particles. Common agents used in cloud seeding include silver iodide, liquid propane, dry ice (solid carbon dioxide), and various salt compounds, as stated by the North American Weather Modification Council (NAWMC).

Conspiracy theories have gone viral after accounts on X reported that days before the flooding in Kerr County, the area had undergone cloudseeding. However, expert after expert, both those from the private sector and the public, reject the notion that the unprecedented rainfall could be tied to geoengineering taken too far. The German outlet, DW, spoke with Edward Gryspeerdt, a research fellow in the Department of Physics at Imperial College London. Gryspeerdt called attention to the storm’s characteristics and said that cloudseeding would not be able to create such conditions. “Cloud seeding might be able to modify a cloud that already exists, but a large thunderstorm requires a huge amount of water and energy,” said Gryspeerdt, adding that “cloud seeding cannot provide either of these.”

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