Does anyone have more evidence of this? I'm really curious.
Discussion
Would also love to learn more.
I knew about the Tennessee Congress ban. They did a bunch of research before writing the bill, though I don't know all the details off the top of my head.
I believe it revolves around certain additives to aviation fuel that are known to release particulates in the jet exhaust that can seed clouds. Whether those additives are expressly intended to form clouds, though, or whether it's a side effect of some efficiency that they give to the engines or such, I don't know.
From the Tennessee General Assembly website:
"[The bill] prohibits the intentional injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of chemicals, chemical compounds, substances, or apparatus within the borders of this state into the atmosphere with the express purpose of affecting temperature, weather, or the intensity of the sunlight."
https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2691
Yup. The bill is rather straight forward, but also pretty well thought out.
But gosh, if that's the case rat the skies are clearing up after not having any of the (alleged) chemtrails, that's... Pretty shocking.
The bill mostly just addresses intent, but I have some speculations as to mechanism.
Back in 2023, there were some reports that suggested the reduction in sulfur content in the fuel used in marine shipping was reducing cloud formation over the Atlantic and indirectly causing a change in ocean temperatures. In brief, it's cheaper to use high-sulfur fuel oil, so that's what most ships do. Burning that fuel releases particulates which harm human health--and also can act as seeds for cloud formation. International shipping regulations have gone into place that require lower sulfur fuel oil, or to scrub out the pollutants from the exhaust. The result is fewer toxic pollutants in the air, but also reduced cloud formation along major shipping lanes.
Aviation has a similar issue. Jet exhausts release soot particles and water vapor, which together can seed clouds, thus forming contrails. This additional cloud formation certainly has some impact on climate and weather, just like natural cloud patterns do. It's possible to use cleaner aviation fuel with less soot that forms fewer clouds, but that is likely to be more expensive, certainly in the near term, and thus the market incentives push airlines in the direction of using the cheaper, dirtier fuel.
So there is a clear mechanism by which different types of aviation fuel may cause the formation of "chemtrails" (contrails). The open question that the Tennessee law calls forth is whether some entity might be taking advantage of that side effect in an attempt to change climate patterns. An airline convinced of the harm of global warming and committed to sustainability might adjust their flight routing based on climate modeling to try to encourage cloud formation in specific areas.
Of course, the latter is pure speculation, as by definition it would be occurring out of the public eye.
I would expect the net effect of the Tennessee law to be that airline routes passing over that state are nudged in the direction of using cleaner fuel. At this point, claims of reduced contrails over the state are purely anecdotal, to my knowledge.
Sources:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-how-low-sulphur-shipping-rules-are-affecting-global-warming/
https://msp.energy/whats-that-very-low-sulfur-fuel-oil-vlsfo/
Yup.
But I kinda want to see some video of a plane crossing the border at 35k feet on the air and then the contrail just shutting off... That might be even more interesting.
I doubt we'd see such a video, as I don't think that is what is happening.
If such a video did surface, the implications would be pretty remarkable.
Yup. That's why I'm curious. I mostly want to know the location and time of the second video so I can take a look and see if there were any planes traveling in that area. If there were, then that's also an interesting data point.
Here's another site with the full bill text. It's quite simple.
