On high barometric pressure days observations of Gunnison Valley’s gleaming blue skies often reveals long white, cloud-like condensation streamers called contrails. Contrails are condensation exhaust from jet engines. Some days they seem to be all over the sky. Contrails have become more ubiquitous with the growth of the air travel industry and our nearby Air Force bases.

Recently I’ve learned about chemtrails. Theoretically, chemtrails differ from contrails because they are composed of biological or chemical materials that are purposefully laced into the atmosphere. Chemtrails reportedly persist longer in the atmosphere than contrails, are often observed in ‘X’ patterns, sometimes transform into cirrus clouds and have been the object of much suspicious ire since 1997. There is considerable documentation from government, scientific and military institutions refuting the existence of chemtrails. This fact serves to reinforce reaction of conspiratorial paranoia amongst theorists that believe the government is purposefully trying to harm them.

I do not go in for paranoid theories. Any theory can be evaluated and its functional information reduced to a comprehendible degree of clarity.  For example, there has been a rampant amount of rhetoric since 2001 over government complicity in 9/11. Complicit or not, the result was that government security failed to protect its citizens from a concerted effort of harm. That the world is often a dangerous place full of self-serving and misguided people, people that are psychologically drawn to positions of power over others, is not a conspiracy. It is helpful survival knowledge.

In the case of chemtrails, here in Gunnison County we could use a mass spectrometer for atmospheric chemical analysis. Thus, we could scientifically understand exactly what we are observing. Spectrometers are exceptionally valuable for analyzing atmospheric chemicals. It’s how we know the atmospheric composition of other planets and our own. We also know that Gunnison County participates in weather modifying cloud seeding experiments. So, locally, we do in fact have people purposefully lacing the atmosphere with chemicals towards the experimental end of generating more snow pack. For the concerned, minimal Internet research can bring you into contact with the responsible parties.

It makes no sense to worry over unfounded malicious intent. Be it contrails or chemtrails, individual or industrial pollution, there are plenty of toxins entering our environment of which we are aware. Back in late January 450,000 gallons of oil spilled into a Texas river, this week we have the sunken oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico and its’ oil spill. Authorities have resolved to setting it ablaze stating that it’s more ecological. Genius. So much for authority. Clearly, by accident or intention, we are hyper-mixing our global environment in a toxic fashion. Unfortunately, for either the paranoid or the discrediting skeptics, tragedy of the commons is not a conspiracy. It is our legacy.