"Playing God with the Weather"

Congressional Hearing — September 16, 2025

Committee

House Committee on Oversight and Accountability — Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency

Chair

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA)

Duration

Approximately 2 hours

Witnesses

3 expert witnesses (sworn testimony)

Witnesses & Key Testimony

Dr. Roger Pielke Jr.Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute

30 years studying atmospheric science and policy. Former scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

"We've been trying to modify the weather for 70 years, and we don't know if we're modifying the weather."
Compared geoengineering to "risky gain-of-function research on viruses with uncertain benefits and catastrophic risks"
Over 500 scientists worldwide have signed a solar engineering non-use agreement
Recommended Congress request a National Academy of Sciences assessment on weather modification effectiveness
Called for standardizing federal weather modification law across all states

Christopher MarksMeteorologist, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow

Meteorologist and policy analyst specializing in climate and weather.

Distinguished contrails (ice clouds above 20,000 ft) from cloud seeding (injecting agents into lower clouds) from geoengineering (planetary-scale climate intervention) — three separate things
Cloud seeding may increase local precipitation by 0-15%, but "not on a scale over 200km"
Raised concerns about silver iodide accumulating in soil and water tables — "the long-term effects on marine life, aquatic life, and terrestrial plant life have not been studied definitively"
When asked if he'd drink water with silver iodide: "I probably would not want to do that"
Named Rainmaker Corporation specifically in connection with Texas flood concerns
EPA has identified risks of SAI including: ozone depletion, acid rain, and reduced crop yields

Dr. Michael McCrackenChief Scientist, Climate Institute (retired Lawrence Livermore National Lab)

PhD, career at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, former senior climate change scientist with the US Global Change Program.

"Changing a major specific event — a hurricane or a drenching rain or a drought — is just beyond human capabilities"
"There's not scientifically convincing evidence that it works, but there's not scientifically convincing evidence that it doesn't work"
Confirmed no large-scale geoengineering is currently occurring globally
Favored continued research (disagreed with other witnesses on non-use agreement)

Notable Moments

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin (via video)

"Americans have urgent and important questions about geoengineering and contrails. The American public deserves and expects honesty and transparency from their government. For years, people who asked questions in good faith were dismissed, even vilified by the media and their own government. That era is over. The Trump EPA is committed to total transparency."

China's weather modification program

Rep. Gill raised that China spent $2 billion on weather modification over the past decade and asked about adversarial use. Dr. Pielke noted the importance of atmospheric monitoring to detect such activities.

Bipartisan areas of agreement

Both parties agreed that weather modification is real, that more research and transparency is needed, and that citizens deserve answers. The disagreement was primarily over the framing of climate change and the role of the EPA.

Sources

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