In the wake of a 19-million-gallon rainfall from chemically seeded clouds above the Kenai Peninsula last week, State Rep. Sarah Vance is calling on state authorities to order an immediate cease-and-desist of any further cloud-seeding or weather-modification activity.
California-based Rainmaker Technology Corporation claims it produced the controversial rainfall over three hours on Aug. 22-23 – the first of its kind by a private entity in Alaska. The recent operation is part of Rainmaker’s larger goal of using specialized drones and weather sensors to seed clouds across the nation with microscopic particles of silver iodide in an effort to artificially manufacture more rain.
“Since this was first brought to my attention last month, I have been asking questions about the use of drones by Rainmaker in our district,” Vance noted in an Aug. 27 statement. “At the time, it was unclear whether the activity was strictly research and development or whether it involved actual cloud seeding.”
Vance added: “Let me be clear: the State of Alaska did not approve this activity, nor was the state informed about it until I brought the FAA permits and the visible drone activity in our district to the state’s attention.”
While cloud-seeding technology has existed for nearly 80 years, Rainmaker intends to expand the practice to manipulate weather patterns across the U.S. This includes dumping water into the Colorado River and the Bear River Basin in order to increase flow into the Great Salt Lake in Utah. Rainmaker founder and CEO Augustus Doricko claims future projects could be aimed at restoring glaciers with man-made snowfall.
“Alaska’s environment and the health of its people are not available for unconsented federal experimentation,” she concluded.
Vance claimed that the recent cloud-seeding operation has raised “serious concerns about weather modification and the potential impacts of excessive rainfall on our communities.”
“As your representative, I believe Alaskans deserve to know when activities are being conducted that could potentially affect our weather, agriculture, construction, businesses, and way of life,” she said. “Today, I sent a letter to the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Transportation requesting an immediate cease-and-desist of any cloud-seeding or weather-modification activity affecting Alaska until there can be appropriate consultation, transparency, and coordination with the State of Alaska.”
She noted that better communication and coordination should be firmly established before any further activity takes place that could impact weather, agriculture, industries or the general way of life in Alaska.
“Alaskans should not have to learn about activities affecting their communities after the fact through social media,” she concluded. “We deserve transparency. We deserve accountability. And we deserve a seat at the table before weather-modification activities take place in our communities.”
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
In her Aug. 27 letter to Alaska Transportation Commissioner Ryan Anderson, Vance urged to take immediate and forceful action by formally directing the United States Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and any other relevant federal agencies or contractors to cease all cloud seeding and weather modification experiments whose chemical or physical effects reach the land, waters, atmosphere, or public of the State of Alaska.
“States retain clear authority to protect their land, water, air quality, ecosystems, fisheries, and public health from the effects of substances that precipitate within their borders,” she wrote. “Dispersing silver iodide or other seeding agents that fall onto Alaska soil or waters constitutes a release subject to state environmental interests. Private contractors operating under federal contracts do not enjoy the full sovereign immunity available to federal employees acting in official capacity and remain subject to state law unless a specific federal statute expressly preempts it.”
Even where a federal contract exists, Vance noted that a state may “lawfully demand that federal agencies and their contractors refrain from activities that deposit chemicals within Alaska’s territorial jurisdiction.”
“Alaska’s environment and the health of its people are not available for unconsented federal experimentation,” she concluded.
TAKING ACTION
— To contact Alaska Transportation Commissioner Ryan Anderson, call (907) 465-3900 or email dot.commissioner@alaska.gov.
11 Comments
We know the cloud seeding and resultant rainfall occurred over the Kenai Peninsula, but where specifically?
Those BastrdsClass Action Suit by any residents harm from this! Alaska Residents AreNot Guinea pigs for anyone!We Do Not Want Any Chemicals raining here!
Does anyone know if silver iodide is harmful to the environment?
As this article notes, cloud seeding technology has been used for over 80 years. There have been several academic studies conducted that have shown that silver iodide creates little to no environmental effects. However, despite this people still oppose a technology that could be very beneficial to the Alaskan economy because they have some conspiratorial fears of “chem trails”. Conservatives should be focused on supporting businesses not drowning innovation in bureaucratic regulation.
” technology that could be very beneficial to the Alaskan economy”.
Just exactly how is rain making beneficial to the Alaskan economy?
THANK YOU Rep. Vance for speaking out on this issue. It appears that interest is growing in getting citizen ballot measure on the 2028 ballot that will ban weather modification practices like these (exemption would be wildfire control and farming operations.)
Lastly, does this company do their “research” in the state they come from (California)? If not, why?
Speaking as someone who lives downstream of most of the weather passing through the Kachemak Bay area, I would like to know more about exactly where and exactly when this seeding was done. Statements by Rainmaker Tech implied that most of the water in these type of clouds ends up falling on the oceans, deflecting attention from the fact that seeding clouds in the Homer area that normally travel northward across the Kenai Peninsula will impact everyone living downweather. If they prematurely removed 19 million gallons of rainfall from that cloud system, what are the full, long-term impacts on those areas that should normally have received that water? What are the full, long-term impacts on the areas that did receive the excess? Were any measurements made of silver iodide levels in the air, rainfall, lakes, and creeks downstream of this project?
I also want to know how this could be done without any formal public notice. Asking a federal bureaucrat for an exemption to fly your drones above permitted heights is not notification. Besides assuming that with our sparse population they could quietly pull this off without getting too much heat, no doubt they also chose the southern Kenai Peninsula for their experimentation because they could easily fly-in to Homer, relax at a high-end hotel, and maybe even catch a fishing charter afterwards.
NASA was pulling this crap at Eielson AFB at least 3 years ago. This is much bigger than just this one company.
Thank you Rep. Vance for taking quick action on this issue. The fact that this cloud seeding was done without any prior knowledge or permission by the public is quite worrisome. We have had an unusual amount of cold and rain this summer. I’d like to know WHO deemed this a necessary action. Don’t experiment in our beautiful state. Oh yes,.. the comment about rebuilding the glaciers with man-made snow is beyond ridiculous. Glaciers recede or rebuild on their own schedule, like the Taku glacier near Juneau, which has been advancing for years. It now covers a cabin that my husband and I spent the night in the ’90s.
anyone that wants to learn more about what the powers that should not be are spraying on us can go onto Dane Wingingtons site, Geoengineeringwatch.org
watch the viewing of the dimming, it will break your heart what they are doing to our planet. its much more than about cloud seeding. its weather modification and its been going on since WW2. check it out!
Most western U.S. states have adopted regulations that govern if and when cloud seeding operations may be conducted in their state. Permits are typically required. Since the typical cloud seeding projects are conducted to increase precipitation and eastern states normally receive adequate precipitation, no cloud seeding projects are conducted in eastern states.