Who Controls the Weather?

On Monday, Representative Monty Fritts talked with the Pamphleteer about his controversial weather modification bill. The legislation, which put restrictions on geoengineering initiatives such as cloud seeding and other particle dispersions aiming to alter weather and sunlight, set off a media firestorm. While pundits and Tennessee politicians alike pulled out the tin foil hats—chastising the bill for encouraging chemtrail conspiracy theorists, a myth likened to “Yetis or Sasquatch or Bigfoot”—it passed with a healthy majority vote in both the house and the senate. 

A few months out from his July prayer tour that took him from Mountain City to Memphis, the freshman state legislator filled us in about his goals for next year’s General Assembly.  A 10-year Army veteran who came out of military retirement to re-enlist in 2003 and serve during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Fritts isn’t afraid of an uphill battle. Given his background as the Director of Operations at Nuclear Fuel Services and a Physical Scientist for the National Nuclear Security Administration, the conversation also veered toward state energy policy.

Regarding your weather modification bill, there was a lot of rhetoric from the left and pushback from people who were against it. They tried to make the legislation sound ridiculous and silly, but in the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, you brought up the Stratospheric Aerosol Injection research approved by the Biden administration. We also saw Augustus Doricko—a cloud seeder from California—testify against some of the language used in the bill. What was it like trying to combat the media and bring the discussion back down to earth in order to address these issues?

I think some of that is just keeping it simple. I really think, for some of those who took a side against this, it's because they just really couldn't grasp what was taking place. I think some of my colleagues made a couple flamboyant statements about things that they don't have the background to understand. There's probably some politics in it, too. 

You mentioned the 45-page White House document of congressionally mandated study. It lays out, very clearly, some of the SAI that you mentioned and the development of policies to use aerosol injection of chemical compounds, metals, and polymers into the atmosphere to control this climate change that everybody's so alarmed about. I would offer this: I'm very much convinced that many of the folks that are pushing climate alarmism are doing so to your detriment. They're doing so to be able to exercise more control over the decisions you can make today, like some of this bad energy policy. They're greatly connected. 

We sell credits on everything now. The supposed selling of carbon credits, all of those geoengineering efforts, have an end goal of costing you and me more to keep the lights on. Perhaps even costing us more in our health. One of the things that I offered in that committee was a very simple premise, just so folks like Justin Jones could maybe understand it if they thought about it for a moment: everything that goes up must come down. So, if we are introducing even small amounts of silver iodine for the cloud seed, I think that's problematic. 

When you look at the White House report, if you look at the Department of Energy or National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documents, they talk about marine cloud brightening. So, on a very large scale, injecting particles or nanoparticles in the atmosphere to reflect the sunlight and somehow reduce its intensity upon the earth. Quite honestly, to me, it's crazy to even consider doing that.

📹 You’ve Been Funked In a press release yesterday, the Tennessee Comptroller’s office released a report on their investigation into Nashville’s District Attorney Glenn Funk. A series of questions raised by NewsChannel 5 Investigates resulted in the audit by the Comptroller and a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation raid on Funk’s office in 2022. With evidence collected across the two departments, the probe revealed that Funk secretly recorded conversations with a number of colleagues and visitors.

The 22-page document also outlined questionable workplace practices, such as intimidation of employees who didn’t support his run for DA in 2022 and PTO for off-the-clock hours some employees participated in to help him campaign. While the state concluded that the DA’s activities “could violate the United States Constitution, Tennessee Rules of Professional Conduct, and state law,” AG Skrmetti will not be prosecuting Funk, citing insufficient evidence.

🚍 Transit Advocacy Hits the Airwaves The new pro-transit referendum ad is out, but the messaging seems a bit…different? In an interesting code-switch, the 30-second spot refers to the mayor’s $6.9 billion plan as the Transportation Improvement Plan. Though O’Connell first rolled out the term TIP during the initial unveiling of his dedicated funding initiative, he has affectionately referred to his transit plan as Choose How You Move over the course of the summer. 

Sans any indication that the 15-30+ year intiative requires an indefinite sales tax increase, the ad promises that the plan—which is heavily dedicated to a public transit expansion—will result in shorter commute times. “Nashvillians are missing too many of life's important moments because we're sitting in traffic,” says the narrator. “As the city has grown, so has the gridlock. This November, there's a chance to fix Nashville's traffic problems. Vote for Nashville's Transportation Improvement Plan.”

THE FUTURE OF POWER

DEVELOPMENT

• Skinny Dennis to bring live music, cold beer and James Beard-recognized eats to East Nashville (NBJ)
• Indigo Road Hospitality Group to open Italian restaurant in Nashville (NBJ)
• Grocery store could be in mix for Midtown-eyed project (Post)

THINGS TO DO

View our calendar for the week here and our weekly film rundown here.

📅 Visit our On The Radar list to find upcoming events around Nashville.

🎧 On Spotify: Pamphleteer's Picks, a playlist of our favorite bands in town this week.

👨🏻‍🌾 Check out our Nashville farmer's market guide and yearly festival guide.

TONIGHT

🎸 Kings of Leon @ Bridgestone Arena, 8p, $40, Info

🪕 Fast Track @ Station Inn, 9p, $20, Info

🎸 Stephanie Urbina Jones & The Honky Tonk Mariachi @ Dee's Lounge, 7p, $10, Info

🪕 Off the Rails & Vince Herman @ Dee's Lounge, 9p, $10, Info

🍀 Live Irish Music @ McNamara’s Irish Pub, 6p, Free, Info

🎸 Kelly’s Heroes @ Robert’s Western World, 6:30p, Free, Info

🎸 Open Mic @ Fox & Locke, 6:30p, Free, Info
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