Claim by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier:
In a July 14, 2025, letter, Uthmeier claimed that Florida is “under attack” by toxic particulates from atmospheric spraying. He directed public-use airports to comply with a new Florida law banning weather modification and geoengineering, asserting these practices were endangering health, water, and agriculture.
Explanation:
According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, no entity has applied for or received a weather modification license since the requirement was enacted in 1957. The law Uthmeier cited, SB 56, bans the intentional dispersion of substances to affect weather, temperature, or sunlight—but there’s no evidence such activities have occurred in Florida.
Uthmeier referenced cloud seeding as a possible cause of the July 4 Texas floods. However, meteorologists say this is scientifically implausible. Experts interviewed by PolitiFact confirmed that the cloud-seeding event took place more than 24 hours earlier and could not have triggered the severe storm. Further, Florida’s meteorological conditions are not conducive to the type of cloud seeding used in western states.
Uthmeier’s rhetoric echoes the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, which falsely claims governments secretly spray chemicals from planes. These white trails are contrails, composed of water vapor and soot, not evidence of geoengineering.
Conclusion:
Fact or Fiction? Fiction. Florida is not under attack from weather modification. There is no active weather modification activity in the state, and Uthmeier’s claims rely on debunked conspiracy theories rather than scientific evidence or regulatory data.
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Last Updated on July 22, 2025 by Media Bias Fact Check