The other day, I told you that Republicans were trying to legislate against chemtrails in 6 states. I regret to inform you that another state has joined the club, and it’s Minnesota.
Republicans in the Legislature, including Senate assistant minority leader Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, have introduced legislation (HF4687/SF4630) inspired by the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory.
The bill contains a mishmash of conspiratorial pseudoscience, including references to made-up phenomena like “xenobiotic electromagnetism and fields,” with just enough parroting of actual science to give it a veneer of credibility.
It requires county sheriffs to investigate citizen complaints of “polluting atmospheric activity,” and grants the governor the authority to call up the National Guard and ground any aircraft suspected of spreading pollutants.
To professionals who study and understand atmospheric science, the legislation bears all the hallmarks of the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, which posits that airplane exhaust is deliberately laced with harmful chemicals for various nefarious purposes, including forced sterilization and mind control.
“Because the text of this bill focuses so much on electromagnetic radiation, you can tell that it is coming from the community of people concerned with chemtrails,” said Holly Buck, who studies geoengineering at the University at Buffalo in New York.
The proposed law says that if anyone alleges that “weather-engineering or other atmospheric experimentation that involves releasing xenobiotic agents or producing electromagnetic radiation” is going on, a sheriff must be dispatched to shut it down. They’ve got a list of electromagnetic criteria that defines unlawful levels that sounds scientific, but has little connection to reality.
(1) radio frequency or microwave radiation, including maser, of signal strength metered at the reported, publicly accessible location in excess of negative 85 dBm for any frequency or channel band specified by a transmitting entity’s FCC transmission license;
(2) extreme-low-frequency alternating current electric fields in excess of 1 volt per 25 meters;
(3) magnetic fields in excess of one milligauss;
(4) ionizing radiation in excess of 0.02 millisievert per hour;
(5) laser or other light with harmful effects; or
(6) any vibration, noise, laser, sonic weapon, or other physical agent exceeding building or biology guidelines.
Uh-oh. Light bulbs put out about 5V/M — we’re already exceeding the legal limit. Watching Fox News on your color TV is criminal, because that’s about 60V/M. If you’re concerned about magnetic fields, one of the deadliest tools in your home is the hairdryer, which generates about 300 milligauss…and you stick that right up next to your brain!
But yeah, that airplane at 20,000 feet that is surrounded by a 1 milligauss magnetic field must be grounded.
“…any aircraft suspected of spreading pollutants.”
Wouldn’t that be pretty much all of them?
Concern about chemtrails and other conspiracies has some overlap with ‘preppers’ (although not all of them) .
While preppers may largely escape electromagnetic fields, by often depending on fire for heating and light they will inhale lots of carcinogenous compounds created by low-temperature combustion. I fear those health effects will be far worse than whatever they think electric fields will cause.
An airship powered with bioethanol would not release pollutants, but would inevitably be too ‘green’ to be acceptable.
They did not include radioactive substances with aircraft pollutants. That nuclear-powered ramjet that was considered in the 1950s can be dusted off.
I would love it if repubs started caring about pollution. This is not the molecule they should be worrying about.
They’re against EMF? That’s unbelievable! (ohhhhhhhhhhhh)
In other words, under this bill, anybody can sic the sheriff on anybody, based on suspicion of doing something electrical or involving vibrating or maybe lasers or something.
This is healthy.
It requires county sheriffs to investigate citizen complaints of “polluting atmospheric activity,” and grants the governor the authority to call up the National Guard and ground any aircraft suspected of spreading pollutants.The first comment already pointed this out.
All aircraft spread pollutants.
So do all cars including electric vehicles.
For EVs, it isn’t the electrical system, but where the electricity to charge them comes from.
“It requires county sheriffs to investigate citizen complaints of “polluting atmospheric activity,”…” This is dumb.
The county sheriffs don’t have the personpower, money, or knowledge to investigate crackpot complaints of polluting atmospheric activity, whatever that means.
In point of fact, most “polluting atmospheric activity” comes from such things as coal burning power plants, cars, natural gas extraction and combustion for heating and electrical generation, and so on.
So shut all that down and our civilization just stops.
The bill is so vaguely written that it doesn’t make much sense and is unenforceable.
I see progress here.
Look at all those metric units!
Makes this Canadian proud to see the metric system being formally promoted by our American neighbours!
It’s almost like republicans have finally come to terms with the fact that they totally suck at actually governing and have taken up legislating pseudo-science to give the appearance of activity to insure their MAGAt rube supporters don’t think that they’re dead or, otherwise, pinin’ for the fjords.
There’s simply no other explanation.
@8:raven: re: EVs.
EVs generate more toxic particulate matter from tires:
https://e360.yale.edu/features/tire-pollution-toxic-chemicals
Feralboy @7 is quite right, anybody could find themselves in hot water simply by having someone inspect their house appliances. The only ones to be safe would be those avoiding any kind of electricity whatsoever.
And concerning that nuc-powered dingus @4 birgerjohansson, it’s almost there (maybe) but in the hands of their Russian bff:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik
now that will make things much warmer than those measly 20micros allowed by the law!
The other day while sitting out enjoying that rare dry spring day in the PNW, I was watching the planes that were flying over and noticed that the worst for the harmful chemtrails were those flown by the Air Farce. Is the state of Minnesota going to arrest the federal government for these brazen acts of poisoning us citizen or not.
It requires county sheriffs to investigate citizen complaints of “polluting atmospheric activity,” and grants the governor the authority to call up the National Guard and ground any aircraft suspected of spreading pollutants.
Can sheriffs be dispatched to buildings and vehicles that are spewing KNOWN pollutants at the ground level? Of course not — that’s socialism, and job-killing class warfare!
This is a perfect example of Republicans pretending to “solve” nonexistent problems while ignoring and actively avoiding real ones.
Would those be “constitutional sheriffs” who allegedly have more exercisable power than any other gov’t entity? Alongside chemtrails that’s another crackpot idea.
Anyone breathing out Carbon Dioxide needs to be arrested.
Does that mean people concerned about global warming could call the sheriff and get aircrafts grounded? Asking for a friend.
Actually, never mind, if people take their personal car instead of a plane to go on a trip, the CO2 emission is likely higher.
It is gonna be tough under this law to keep open any gas stations. Or Taco Bells, for that matter.
And do they do any mining or manufacturing in Minnesota? I am looking at you, Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, aka 3M.
@Athaic 17
This might what their own fear latches onto because they can’t accept CO2 as a pollutant. It’s worth trying but I’d expect some revealing reactions.
They’re gonna get tired of calls telling them about aircraft emitting chemicals that turn out to be crop dusters…pretty sure pesticides are ‘xenobiotic agents’
After I retired I had a gig holding workshops at the local Apple store. One of my regulars was a middle-aged lady who wore more scarves than Deborah Birx and set out what looked like paper weights or snow globes on the desk in front of her. I finally asked her, “What’s up, Doc?” and she said they were “orgone ray collectors.” I see, said the blind man. They were actually plastic hemispheres imbedded with snippets of 14-gauge copper house wire. Of course, she was the only student who came to the workshop via portal.
Am I the only one who is looking at some of these scientifical specs and thinking this is some kinda crazy stealth back door by which some telecom with way too many lobbyists is gonna shut down a competitor with nuisance suits?
Why is everyone thinki9ng so small? The magnet field limit is 1mGauss? The Earth’s magnetic field is about 1 Gauss. Which sheriff gets to try to shut the actual planet down?
nomuse: Not any more you’re not…
That chemtrails have been enhanced and made more deadly by Jewish Space Lasers, apparently has been summarily and arbitrarily dismissed by leading mock-scientists.
RFK Jr., isn’t it time to weigh in here, and make this another un-treated, rotting plank in your platform?
flange @25
Part of me read that as wanting RFK Jr to weigh in here on Pharyngula. That’s one time I would relish Balter going gloves off!
I know Thirteen Days is a distorted Hollywood depiction of events but showed RFK Jr’s dad and uncle dealing with real stuff and not stuff RFK Jr makes up to promote his brand.
RFK Jr isn’t his dad or uncle. And he’s wacko:
one of the deadliest tools in your home is the hairdryer, which generates about 300 milligauss…and you stick that right up next to your brain
You put the hairdryer WHERE?????
Oh. Head. Right.
Carry on.
I guarantee “polluting atmospheric activity,” won’t include farmers’ burn piles or families burning used pallets at their bonfire. No sheriff in rural MN is going to deal with that.
I’ll note how they expect the Sheriffs to enforce this, rather than creating a department within the state government to analyze the data (not that it gives any guidance nor budget on the equipment and training needed to do such investigations).
Shows how this isn’t even a “States Rights” thing but rather coming from the literal grass roots of the Citizen Sheriff model of government, that the Sheriffs have the real final say on anything and everything, and not some ‘elite’ department over in some capital building.
I live in the corner of my county. Most of the planes I see west of me are over a different county, the planes north of me are over a third county. Do I call all three Sheriffs?
There is a lot of crankery about RF energy.
What many people seem conveniently to forget is, during the 20th Century, we were pumping millions of joules of RF energy into the sky every second, on the MW and LW bands.
If it was harmful, we’d surely have seen some sign of that by now.
So, are you writing in to your American-equivalent-of-an-MLA to make sure they are sufficiently informed on this topic to argue against it? Or are you just sitting back expecting it to pass?
tell me again why we need to prioritize education in the USA?
They’re going to call in the national guard to ground any aircraft suspected of releasing chemical pollutants…
I do hope they arrive in their airplanes.
Nitric Acid
I’m also a Minnesota resident, and I expect our majority D legislature will try not to laugh too obviously before letting his proposal die in committee.
people are stupid ignorant and crazy.
The most powerless are easily frightened and led by charlatans and liers
There is how ever a little bit of truth to the idea that airplanes are releasing or producing toxic chemicals in the air. They do it in the form of exhaust from their engines, particulates and chemical compounds from complete and incomplete combustion of hydrocarbon fuel. The effects have been studied with some difficulty but it is not the result of some vast secret conspiracy for nefarious purposes. it is just dumb apes doing things with out knowing all the consequences