Alaska’s Secret Cloud Seeding Test | Anchorage News

0:00It's September 11th. You're listening to Anchorage News today, AI Power Local News. So, there was this tech company, Rainmaker, that did a cloud-seating test over the keen eye peninsula in Alaska. They launched from state land aiming to see if their drones could handle cold weather and to research seating for future operations. The company says this was purely experimental. No commercial customers involved, and they picked the spot for its weather conditions. The big issue here is that nobody in the local community knew this was going down. The company claims they got sign-off from the Alaska Department of Natural Resources, but the canine peninsula Burrow Mayor said they were blindsided, and the company initially downplayed the operation, saying it was just drone testing without a payload. This whole situation has folks on the canine, feeling a bit uneasy, especially given Alaska's history with outside industries extracting resources and leaving messes behind. There's a sentiment that a laskin should have more control over what happens in their state and ensure benefits them directly.

1:01Now the company's CEO says they use silver iodide, not harmful chemicals, and that cloud-seating just redirects existing moisture. He also mentioned that federal oversight is pretty minimal, mostly just reporting after the fact, and that states like Utah and Colorado have stronger, regulations. Following the test, the keen eye peninsula Burrow is moving to create new rules. They're proposing an ordinance that will require prior notice, full operational details, and an independent observer for any future weather. Modification activities on Burrow land. This is all happening because right now, there's no real local or state law governing this kind of thing in Alaska.