Your support helps us to tell the story
Marjorie Taylor Greene has doubled down on her debunked claim that the government can control the weather just as millions of Floridians brace for Hurricane Milton.
The Republican from Georgia claimed last week that “they” can control the weather after Hurricane Helene killed more than two dozen people in her state and more than 230 across the US. While she did not clarify who “they” was at the time, Joe Biden said the idea the federal government controlled the weather was “beyond ridiculous”.
“Yes they can control the weather,” she wrote on X last week. “It’s ridiculous for anyone to lie and say it can’t be done.”
Then, on Wednesday, Greene posted a follow-up to her initial claim to clarify: “Everyone keeps asking, ‘who is they?’”
“Well some of them are listed on NOAA, as well as most of the ways weather can be modified...If your home or business or property is damaged or a loved one is killed by their weather modifications shouldn’t you be eligible for compensation?” Greene wrote.
Greene also attached screenshots of “weather modification project reports” from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration website.
These projects include cloud seeding, a practice that has existed for nearly a century. Through cloud seeding, experts can improve a cloud’s ability to produce rain or snow, according to the Desert Research Institute. They can do this by introducing “ice nuclei” to certain types of clouds using planes or ground-based generators.
Conspiracy theorists have pointed to cloud seeding throughout the years as evidence that the government can control major weather events. However, cloud seeding cannot be used to create or modify hurricanes, NOAA explained. Furthermore, there is no weather modification technique that would allow the government to create a hurricane.
Hugh Willoughby at Florida International University, who previously headed up NOAA’s Hurricane Research Division, said hurricane modification is not possible.
“Because hurricanes are chemically simple - air and water vapor - introduction of catalysts is unpromising. The energy involved in atmospheric dynamics is primarily low-grade heat energy, but the amount of it is immense in terms of human scales.”
That hasn’t stopped ‘weather control’ becoming another right-wing talking point on social media, often by the same people who deny climate change exists.
Alex Jones, a right-wing conspiracy theorist who falsely claimed the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax, amplified Greene’s false claims that the government can control the weather. “Bottom line the federal government could have killed the storm in the Gulf of Mexico,” Jones wrote on X.
Greene also echoed the false conspiracy that the government is sending severe weather to Republican-heavy areas, posting a map of the southeastern US that shows political affiliation by county in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Helene.
“This is a map of hurricane affected areas with an overlay of electoral map by political party shows how hurricane devastation could affect the election,” Greene wrote on October 3. The Independent has contacted Greene for comment.
These aren’t the only conspiracy theories making the rounds in the wake of Hurricane Helene.
Online, rumors have spread that the government “geoengineered” Hurricane Helene to seize control of lithium deposits in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, which was devastated by the storm.
Congressman Chuck Edwards, who represents Chimney Rock’s district, even had to release a statement debunking the claim.
“Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and access lithium deposits in Chimney Rock,” Edwards wrote in a statement on Tuesday.
“Nobody can control the weather. Charles Konrad, director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Southeast Regional Climate Center, has confirmed that no one has the technology or ability to geoengineer a hurricane.”
“Current geoengineering technology can serve as a large-scale intervention to mitigate the negative consequences of naturally occurring weather phenomena, but it cannot be used to create or manipulate hurricanes,” he added.
Conspiracies are also circulating about Hurricane Milton, a dangerous Category 4 storm that is set to devastate parts of Florida when it makes landfall on Wednesday night. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has debunked many of these falsehoods on its website.
These conspiracies include the false claim that Florida is blockading people in the state to prevent evacuations.
“FEMA is not blockading people in Florida and preventing evacuations,” the agency wrote on its website. “FEMA does not control traffic flow or conduct traffic stops, which are handled by local authorities. This is a harmful rumor that can put lives in danger.”
