An insidious little Florida bill is going to make it a lot harder for Marjorie Taylor Greene to pursue weather modification activities

Few GOP representatives can rival Marjorie Taylor Greene‘s ability to spew nonsense, but the bug seems to be catching. Somehow the Georgia Republican maintains her “professional status” even while espousing some of the most backward and confusing rhetoric around. The Georgian has loudly declared that “Democrats can control the weather,” and her Florida counterparts are more than happy to take up the call.

The latest GOP lunacy is centered in Florida, where a routine update on an older bill has seen Republicans desperately trying to stop “weather modification” while also claiming climate change is a hoax.

Floridian representative Ileana Garcia introduced updated legislation that would prohibit weather modification. The “Weather Modification Activities” declares that “the injection, release, or dispersion, by any means, of a chemical, a chemical compound, a substance, or an apparatus into the atmosphere within the borders of this state for the express purpose of affecting the temperature, the weather, or the intensity of sunlight is prohibited.”

Any person or company found to have committed a weather modification crime will be slapped with a second-degree misdemeanor and a $10,000 fine.

Garcia told Newsweek that the bill “prohibits certain acts intended to influence temperature, weather patterns, or sunlight intensity within our state’s atmosphere. In summary, this legislation will enhance our regulatory framework to safeguard against improper use while promoting responsible practices in weather modification.”

We’re assuming “responsible practices” include seeding in the case of drought, but the bill’s wording is purposefully vague. Some of the biggest — and most concerning — amendments cut out studies and research on weather modification. It’s a favorite tactic for Republicans. If there’s no paper trail, it’s easy to sell whatever you want — just like Georgia chose to do with the Maternal Death Review.

The bill’s weather basis is boring bureaucracy with some incredibly silly additions, but it contains provisions that should rattle Floridians.

The bill gives near-absolute authority to the “Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund,” but the organization is just Florida’s top leadership in a trench coat. The group is made up of four people: Governor Ron DeSantis, AG Ashley Moody, Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson, and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis Jr. While the board has been around since 1855, every recent governor, except DeSantis, has backed climate science.

While the reigning Florida governor has been vocal about his appreciation for the natural beauty of Florida, he’s been accused of being hypocritical with his environmental policies, at once championing spending to address changes in sea levels while banning local environmental regulations. DeSantis once told Florida talk show host Erick Erickson, “I can’t control the climate. I’m not doing mandates on any of that,” and yet, he’s literally deleted the very mention of it from the state’s laws.

It tracks with Donald Trump’s anti-regulation stance, one that will cause untold levels of destruction in multiple communities’ futures. His rollbacks have allowed the coal industry to increase their release of toxic pollutants like mercury and arsenic, reduced the numbers of federally protected waters, and allowed farmers to continue to use chlorpyrifos-based pesticides, a chemical with links to child brain development and adult cognitive function.

The bill has yet to pass, but there’s no doubt it will. It gives Marjorie and the GOP everything they want — the appearance of making progress combined with a back door capable of ample destruction.