Legislation based around “chemtrail” conspiracy theories was killed by lawmakers, although there’s still a narrowing window for it to resurface. Meanwhile, state funding for cloud seeding, which is at the root of the conspiracies, is moving forward.
On the first day of the Legislature’s budget session, lawmakers reviewed dozens of bills. Some didn’t make the cut, including HB 12 Clean Air and Geoengineering Prohibition Act.
After being introduced to the House floor Feb. 9 by Rep. Mike Schmid (R-La Barge), the bill failed 24 to 38. It was sponsored by the interim Agriculture Committee in October after a contentious and lengthy debate.
The goal of the bill was to stop chemtrails, a debunked conspiracy theory that claims the government is controlling our health and environment with airborne chemicals that come from contrails, which are the vapor trails from aircraft, geoengineering or weather modification.
Those who consider chemtrails to be harmful say the proof is the streaks of clouds in the sky. However, scientists have proven they are contrails, a well understood phenomenon of jet exhaust mixing with cold temperatures. Contrails can stick around for a while, depending how saturated the air is.
The legislation attempted to ban whatever and whomever is creating the chemtrails by tasking the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) with figuring that out. It would’ve appropriated $500,000 to DEQ to hire two additional full-time employees.
Rep. Tom Kelly (R-Sheridan) spoke in opposition to the bill on the House floor.
“The smallest state in the country trying to affect something like global geoengineering seems like a whole lot of work and effort for us with minimal results,” Kelly said.
Another similar piece of legislation failed. It was a resolution, which is an unenforceable formal ask of the U.S. Congress to take action. HJ 01 Prohibiting unauthorized atmospheric geoengineering had a vote count of 33 to 29, but the budget session requires a two-thirds majority to introduce legislation.
The chemtrail conspiracy theory gained momentum in the Wyoming Legislature during the 2025 session. Several lawmakers, including Schmid, sponsored similar bills that also failed. But they successfully ended Wyoming’s aerial cloud seeding and nixed state funding for ground operations, leaving other Colorado River states to largely foot the bill.
Cloud seeding is a process of injecting winter clouds with a salt-like mixture, either by plane or from the ground. When it works, it puts a little more snow on the ground during a storm, about 10%.
As of now, ground cloud seeding in Wyoming is still allowed. But funding remains an issue because of last year’s legislation. Several Wyoming water managers have previously told lawmakers that cloud seeding is a necessary “tool in the tool box” for preventing the worst outcomes from drought. Additionally, they say it helps Wyoming leverage negotiating power with other Colorado River states because it shows the state is doing everything it can to put more water on the landscape.
This year’s Omnibus water bill-construction, SF 70, would reinstate some of that funding. Specifically, $891,429 for ground based cloud seeding in the Wind River and Sierra Madre mountain ranges over the 2026-27 season.
That bill was introduced on the House floor Feb. 9 and passed out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Feb. 10.
Sen. Bob Ide (R-Casper), the chair of the committee, noted his reservations. He’s spoken out against cloud seeding previously.
“This is a personal thing, I still don’t prefer to do cloud seeding just for a lot of the unknowns,” Ide said. “I think that it’s maybe throwing good money after bad because there’s really no good, measurable results.”
The University of Wyoming contributed to research that shows cloud seeding works: Injecting storm-prone clouds with the salt-like mixture helps them produce more snow. But experts note that more research is needed to know just how much it works.
SF 70 will now go to the House floor again, where further deliberations and changes to the bill could happen. The bill also includes funding for a number of other non-cloud seeding related water projects.
There’s a chance the bill to ban geoengineering could be revived if a lawmaker chooses to file it without committee backing. The deadline to file is Wednesday. All bills must receive a positive introduction bill by Friday to continue.
