Life Without The Power Grid
BY Herschel Smith
10 years, 1 month ago
The head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command admitted Thursday China can shut down the U.S. power grid, Fox News and the Associated Press reported. Admiral Michael Rogers made “the grim forecast” before the House Intelligence Committee, confirming what has been “widely known” but never officially owned up to, the report noted.
“Rogers said he believed China along with ‘one or two’ other countries had the capability to successfully launch a cyber-attack that could shut down the electric grid in parts of the United States,” the report noted.
David goes on to note the extent to which normal life would be affected by such an exigency, and then poses the following dilemma for anti-gun activists.
With that as backdrop, and understanding that the potential for such horror unfolding in the homeland has been formally taken out of the realm of dystopian fiction and now reflects real world concerns of those responsible for overseeing the nation’s first line of defense, activists who demand “common sense gun safety laws” will face a moral choice should officials’ worst fears come to pass.
David is right. But it’s even worse than that. I am not bragging – well, perhaps I am – but before the government told you about the vulnerability of the electrical grid to attacks, before the FERC told you, before the DHS mentioned it, I told you about it based on things I know first hand.
My attack was physical in nature, while this report focuses on cyber-attacks. The short term affect is the same, but the long term affect is far worse in my scenario. In my scenario the very structures, components and equipment used to deliver power (step up transformers) that are needed to manufacture the replacement step up transformers are unavailable due to the attack, so the industrial power isn’t available to make the transformers. And without the attack on large transformers, there is no need for the manufacture of new ones. It’s the perfect horns of a dilemma to the terrorist.
None of the formal reports I have read go much further in developing this threat matrix, except to show that there are just over half a dozen large substations that, if taken out, would leave the vast majority of America blacked out. In this scenario, food, gasoline, the financial system, trade and traffic, traffic lights, power for hospitals, and delivery of necessary medications, would cease or be completely unavailable.
Now who doesn’t want a gun of some sort for self defense?
Read David’s entire article.
Prior:
A Terrorist Attack That America Cannot Absorb
The Electrical Grid Is Still Vulnerable
See also CBS Chicago, Electrical Grid Vulnerable To Attacks, Natural Disasters
On November 21, 2014 at 11:29 am, silver cowboy said:
A critical point that is often missed is that the parts needed to repair the grid systems (transformers etc., ) manufactured in China.. very few spare parts are in the US (which is why it takes so long to fix anything). I fear once it goes down the grid will never come back up because it will keep shorting out and with no spare parts to fix it with the outcome is clear.
On November 22, 2014 at 5:46 pm, Lynn Chobama said:
I own 3 generators. Ask me why.
On November 23, 2014 at 9:43 am, Roger V. Tranfaglia said:
There is also EMP attacks from an atomic type bomb high up in the atmosphere that can take out the power and electronics over a large urban area. Also X class flares from the sun could do the same thing over vast regions of the earth,which DID HAPPEN back in 1895(?) Over the U.S.
Soo… Congress (yes you too Mr. PRESIDENT) need to get off your collective ass’s and mandate money and contractors to start building these replacement substation parts,stepdown/up transformers generator windings and ancillary equipment,to move the heavy stuff, shield what we can in faraday cages so forth and so on.
the sooner we start on this the better off we will be……….