While Louisiana faces an insurance crisis, a crumbling coastline, and one of the highest overdose death rates in the country, state lawmakers have decided their latest priority is… chemtrails.
Yes. Chemtrails.
Not fixing the Sewerage & Water Board. Not stopping insurance companies from fleeing the state. Not funding addiction treatment programs. No, instead, our legislature is spending precious time and taxpayer dollars debating a bill—Senate Bill 46—based on a completely debunked internet conspiracy theory that claims airplanes are spraying chemicals like aluminum and barium into the sky to manipulate the weather. The theory has been thoroughly discredited by the scientific community, but that hasn’t stopped lawmakers from pushing it through the House by a vote of 58 to 32.
State Rep. Kimberly Landry Coates of Ponchatoula, one of the most vocal supporters, claims she’s seen “documents” proving this is happening. She hasn’t shown the documents. She hasn’t cited the agencies involved. But that didn’t stop her from convincing a majority of her colleagues to go along with it.
And it gets worse: the bill now requires the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to collect citizen complaints about these so-called “chemtrails” and send them to the Louisiana Air National Guard. That’s where we are—writing legislation to investigate jet exhaust.
We could be talking about how to prepare for another brutal hurricane season. We could be debating how to keep teachers from leaving the profession in record numbers. We could even be discussing how to rein in Entergy as utility bills skyrocket across the state. But instead, our elected officials are chasing clouds—literally.
This isn’t just embarrassing. It’s dangerous.
When legislators prioritize conspiracy theories over science, they erode public trust in government. They send the message that fringe beliefs matter more than real data, more than lived experience, more than actual problems. They distract from crises that demand real policy solutions, not tinfoil legislation.
Louisiana deserves lawmakers who will roll up their sleeves and do the hard work of governing—not pander to YouTube rabbit holes. But right now, we’re stuck with a legislature that seems more interested in playing make-believe than doing the jobs they were elected to do.
If you’re wondering why our roads flood when it drizzles, or why your homeowner’s insurance bill just tripled—look no further. The same people who think Delta Airlines is controlling the weather are the ones writing our laws.
That should scare you more than anything in the sky.
