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85 Mo. L. Rev. 633 (2020)
Chemtrails and Solar Geoengineers: Governing Online Conspiracy Theory Misinformation

handle is hein.journals/molr85 and id is 646 raw text is: MISSOURI LAW REVIEW VOLUME 85 SUMMER 2020 NUMBER 3 Chemtrails and Solar Geoengineers: Governing Online Conspiracy Theory Misinformation Charles R. Corbett* ABSTRACT As greenhouse gases mount, interest in unorthodox proposals to limit warming temperatures has grown. Solar geoengineering is one idea: interventions in the atmosphere that would cool the Earth by reflecting away a small percentage of incoming sunlight. Inspired by global cooling observed after volcanic eruptions, it seems solar geoengineering could be technically quick and simple to implement, but rather imperfect as climate policy. Public consideration of the technology, however, is blighted by a surreal problem: the online popularity of baseless chemtrail conspiracy theories. Chemtrailers claim covert solar geoengineering programs are already underway and polluting the environment with toxic pollutants, as evidenced by aircraft contrails in the sky. The theory is completely false. But belief is surprisingly widespread, enabled by content dissemination practices of social media companies and strong legal protections for online speech. This Article assesses legal obstacles to regulating chemtrail misinformation and proposes responses that work within prevailing norms and laws governing online speech. It explains how chemtrail content complicates public deliberation on solar geoengineering and, by extension, hurts the legitimacy of research activities. It also sharpens the general contributions of misinformation scholarship by applying them specifically to chemtrail content. It concludes with recommendations on how to limit chemtrail misinformation's spread and impact. Reckoning with climate change, geoengineering, and online misinformation is a multigenerational *Emmett Climate Engineering Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, Emmett Institute, UCLA School of Law. Many thanks to Ted Parson and Michelle Melton for comments, and to the Missouri Law Review editorial board for thoughtful review and recommendations

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