Zeldin cites ‘legitimate questions’ about contrails as EPA launches webpage to combat conspiracy
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin said Thursday that Americans have “legitimate questions” about airplane contrails as his agency launches webpages aimed at combatting misinformation on the topic.
Contrails, the vapor trails that follow high-flying airplanes, are the subject of the “chemtrails” conspiracy theory, which baselessly alleges that the trails are actually chemicals that are used for secret purposes, including weather modification.
The EPA published a webpage Thursday with information about contrails and geoengineering that experts tell The Hill is accurate.
Dustin Tingley, a public policy professor at Harvard University, described the EPA’s webpages as “rather thoughtful.”
“The EPA did a responsible job of taking the concerns that people might genuinely have and providing easy to understand explanations,” Tingley said.
Columbia University climate economist Gernot Wagner also said the webpages published by the EPA are accurate.
“The actual ‘About’ page on the EPA website does not seem to get it wrong,” he said.
The EPA webpage describes “chemtrails” as “a term some people use to inaccurately claim that contrails resulting from routine air traffic are actually an intentional release of dangerous chemicals or biological agents at high altitudes for a variety of nefarious purposes, including population control, mind control or attempts to geoengineer Earth or modify the weather.”
However, Zeldin also characterized questions about contrails as “legitimate” in a written statement.
“Americans have legitimate questions about contrails and geoengineering, and they deserve straight answers,” he said. “We’re publishing everything EPA knows about these topics on these websites.”
He also posted a similar sentiment on social platform X: “Americans have questions about geoengineering and contrails. They expect honesty and transparency from their government when seeking answers.”
“For years, people who asked questions in good faith were dismissed, even vilified by the media and their own government. This ends today,” Zeldin added.
His post sparked pushback from critics who say the questions only come from conspiracy theorists and have no factual evidence underlying them.
“Some people have ‘questions’ about whether birds are real — will that be your next project?” Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) wrote in reply. “How much taxpayer money will you be spending on this?”
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has expressed support for the chemtrails conspiracy theory, praised Zeldin in a post on X.
“Im so proud of my friend Lee Zeldin and President Donald Trump for their commitment to finally shatter the Deep State Omerta regarding the diabolical mass poisoning of our people, our communities,our waterways and farms, and our purple mountains, majesty,” he wrote.
The EPA actions come as weather-related conspiracy theories have allegedly led to attacks on infrastructure. It also comes as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has introduced a bill that aims to outlaw “weather modification.”