WASHINGTON — As President Joe Biden issued a stark warning Wednesday about the dangerous hurricane barreling toward Florida, he shot down misinformation about the storm, including a particular conspiracy theory promoted by Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
“The claims become even more bizarre. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Georgia congresswoman, now says the federal government literally controls the weather – we control the weather. It’s beyond ridiculous. It has to stop,” Biden said. during a virtual briefing at the White House where he received updates on Hurricane Milton. The storm is expected to make landfall in Florida later Wednesday and could be catastrophic for the region.
Greene said in an October 3 post on
One of Greene’s GOP colleagues, Rep. Carlos Giménez of Florida, wrote in a response Wednesday morning: “Humans cannot create or control hurricanes. Anyone who thinks they can needs to have their head examined.”
Around the same time as Biden’s briefing on Wednesday, Greene reiterated her claim and suggested the federal government is aware of it.
“Some of them are listed on NOAA, as are most of the ways the weather can be modified, because they are required to report them to the Secretary of Commerce under the Weather Modification Act of 1972,” she wrote on X. “The The NOAA government website has a library catalog with 1,026 mentions of weather changes, but that’s not all of them.”
She continued, “If your home, business or property is damaged or a loved one is killed by weather changes, shouldn’t you be eligible for compensation? After all, did they ask you if you would agree to us being readjusted again?’
On Tuesday, she quoted an article from The Gateway Pundit, a far-right website known for spreading conspiracy theories, which said: “Marjorie Taylor Greene was right. Yes, scientists can control the weather.”
Biden also said in his briefing on Wednesday that Greene’s conspiracy theory was among the “reckless, irresponsible and ruthless promotion of disinformation and outright lies” in recent weeks. The president said this undermines rescue efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and accused former President Donald Trump of leading “the charge of lies.”
“There have been claims that property is being seized. That’s simply not true,” he said. “They say people affected by these storms will receive $750 in cash and no more. That’s simply not true. They say the money needed for this crisis is being diverted to migrants. Which is ridiculous to say – that’s not true. WHERE.”
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set up a website to address the influx of rumors about the hurricanes, including the false claim that FEMA is directing disaster aid toward migrants.
Weather systems as large as hurricanes cannot be controlled by humans using existing technology. However, there have been attempts to change the weather in a very limited way using cloud seeding technologies.
Cloud seeding, which dates back to the 1950s, typically involves injecting silver iodide into clouds to draw water from the atmosphere and promote the formation of ice crystals that produce snow or rain. Cloud Seeding programs are more common in Western states with dwindling water supplies.
As climate change worsens due to fossil fuel pollution, some scientists have had preliminary discussions about whether large-scale geoengineering projects can help prevent the damage associated with global warming.
Federal researchers have made only a few small steps in studying the feasibility of geoengineering projects, and atmospheric scientists say there is no evidence for large-scale programs.
NBC News has contacted Greene’s office and Trump’s campaign for comment.
Another Republican, Rep. Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, issued a statement Tuesday shooting down the “outrageous rumors” about Hurricane Helene and the federal government’s response to it.
“Hurricane Helene was NOT geoengineered by the government to seize and unlock lithium deposits in Chimney Rock,” he said. “Nobody has control over the weather.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
