There’s Something in the Skies

By Mary Budinger / April 27, 2026

Geoengineering, or chemtrails as we used to think of it, is a source of air pollution and a major concern for Children’s Health Defense.

For decades, undisclosed geoengineering programs – often rationalized under the guise of climate mitigation – have been actively spraying toxic aerosols into our skies without public consent or congressional oversight. Tests of air samples have found that what is being sprayed includes heavy metals and toxic chemicals like aluminum, sulfur dioxide, and black carbon.

These aerosolized additives to the skies have been repeatedly linked to declining health conditions ranging from respiratory illnesses to neurological disorders.

Last year, an Executive Order called “Make America’s Soverign Skies Blue Again” was drafted for President Donald Trump’s signature. It laid out clear actions to halt unauthorized geoengineering. “It is imperative to immediately cease unauthorized and wasteful federal expenditures on atmospheric modification activities, including mass aerosol spraying, which endanger public health, agriculture, and natural resources,” the draft order stated. “We cannot build healthy, organic, regenerative systems – nor ensure public health – when our skies are covertly contaminated. Geoengineering poses an existential threat to our environmental integrity, agricultural stability, and technological sovereignty.”

However, the Order was never signed by Trump, so there is no momentum at the White House at this time.

On the state level, Tennessee, Florida, and Louisiana were the first to enact legislation explicitly banning unauthorized weather modification. Many other states have introduced bills prohibiting geoengineering or atmospheric interventions, but most have not yet passed.

Arizona likewise did not get any such bills into law this year, so the status quo remains. Arizona has a long-standing legal framework in Title 45, Chapter 9, of the Arizona Revised Statutes that allows weather modification, including cloud seeding, but requires a state license and oversight through the Arizona Department of Water Resources. Thus in Arizona, geoengineering is permitted but regulated.

Arizona and nearby states have experimented with cloud seeding which adds particles like silver iodide or salts to clouds to encourage rain or snow. Cloud seeding is used mainly to increase water supply in drought conditions.

For example, a 2025 pilot in Pinal County used cloud seeding flights to increase rainfall. Joe Singleton, the Pinal County Water Augmentation Authority’s executive director, told lawmakers last December that the test took place between July 1 and September 30, 2025. During that time, a total of 30 flights seeded clouds with salts in areas around Casa Grande. According to the final report on the Pinal County experiment, the three-month test was estimated to result in an additional 0.47 inches of rainfall and in 134,192 acre feet of water. For comparison, one acre-foot is typically enough water to serve three single-family homes for a year, according to the Arizona Department of Water Resources. The estimate did not account for evaporation.

Rep. Lisa Fink (R-Glendale) and Sen. David Farnsworth (R-Mesa) have sponsored several bills to give residents transparency about what, if anything, is being sprayed from planes above Arizona communities, whether to create rainfall or deflect sunlight or something else.

Daniel Czecholinski with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality told lawmakers last December that solar radiation management refers to releasing small particles or other materials to reflect sunlight and reduce temperatures. He said that not much is known about the long-term impacts on the environment or human health.

Meanwhile, the “Clear Skies Declaration” was created to frame the various elements of this issue. It unites physicians, health professionals, and citizens across the country in calling on our government to protect human health, ecosystems, and fundamental rights by stopping geoengineering practices and climate intervention experiments.

The Declaration states that “The programs we call to be banned include all activities that involve the release into the Earth’s atmosphere” including:

• Particulates and compounds of metals such as aluminum, barium, strontium, and others
• Chemical aerosols such as sulfur compounds and others
• Nanomaterials such as graphene oxide, polymers, and others
• Toxic and pollutive additives to jet fuels
• Biological, electromagnetic, and other hazardous agents

“They constitute deliberate pollution and degradation of the Earth’s atmosphere,” the Declaration clarifies. “They contaminate our air, water, and soil. They pose a serious threat to all forms of life.”

Among the principal signers to this Declaration are Dr. Meryl Nass, physician/researcher;  and Sayer Ji, founder of GreenMedInfo. You, too, can be a signer – go to https://globalwellnessforum.org/the-clear-skies-declaration and add your name.

“What was once dismissed as conspiracy is now the subject of state-level policy, grassroots mobilization, and now – federal attention,” said Sajer Ji. “This movement is not alone. We are backed by a national and international coalition – with members of the Global Wellness Forum, Stand for Health Freedom, Children’s Health Defense, Replenish Earth, the National Health Federation, the Health Freedom Defense Fund, and many others  – representing tens of millions in the U.S., and hundreds of millions worldwide who rise for truth, transparency, and the right to breathe freely.”

Mary Budinger is an Emmy award-winning journalist and a certified nutritional therapist (NTP). She lives in Phoenix and writes about functional medicine and nutrition.

Image by ErikvanWees

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Children’s Health Defense and/or Children’s Health Defense – Arizona. Information shared, presented, and/or hyperlinked is for educational purposes only; no material is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, treatment or any other professional advice.