Panel: Electrical grid vulnerable to terrorist attack

Panel: Electrical grid vulnerable to terrorist attack

www.usatoday.com

WASHINGTON — It sounds like a science-fiction disaster: A nuclear weapon is detonated miles above the Earth's atmosphere and knocks out power from New York City to Chicago for weeks, maybe months.

Experts and lawmakers are increasingly warning that terrorists or enemy states could wage that exact type of attack, idling electricity grids and disrupting everything from communications networks to military defenses.

(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
www.heritage.org
www.fas.org
www.empcommission.org

This would be a game ender. The transformers needed to keep our grid alive aren't things you can just ship from the next state over. They're huge, specialized pieces of equipment that have to be made-to-order. Backlog for these transformers can be as much as three years.

Nukes shouldn't be your worst fear. High-altitude nukes SHOULD. We go from the Information Age to the early 1800s in a matter of seconds. Anything that has a power source that is connected would likely be vulnerable. Newer cars that have computer-controlled ignitions would not work.

Netwarrior's Tip of the Day: Old microwaves can be used as faraday cages to protect small electronics such as radios from EMP, provided the cord is grounded.

Mods: I didn't know whether this should be posted in Breaking, Terrorism, or Global Meltdown. Please move accordingly.

www.usatoday.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Honestly?.....

I think THIS will be the next False Flag.


Not a traditonal terrorist attack...
Not a Nuke...


But, total power outage over half the U.S....
THIS will push more Cap n Trade laws and expand the Patriot Act.

This was front page of Popular Mechanics back before I was even in Highschool, just after 9/11 happened. People were predicting that an EMP would be the herald of the next dark age, detonated in the atmosphere above all the major cities in the US.


Still waiting, 7 years later

(In other words, must be a slow news day over there, 'cause this ain't breaking news that's for sure)

reply to post by D.E.M.


Updated 16h 14m ago
^^^
right above the title of the article..so yeah, a reaffirmation of a valid threat with new information kinda *is* Breaking.

I thought the point of terrorism was to cause terror.

DaRKNESS isnt that scary.

It's not the darkness that's scary. It's what *causes* the darkness. Try to go even a full day with no electricity. It's no fun. A few days without electricity can be unnerving, even if you know that the problem is just localized to your area (see Katrina.)

Compound that with the fact that the trucks don't run if they get HEMPed. No trucks = no food. Mass pandemonium.

reply to post by netwarrior

Backlog for these transformers can be as much as three years.

I wonder if the reason for backlog is due to the fact that we probably don't have a company to make the transformers here in the US, therefore; we have to rely on other countries to build them for us.

Our grid is very outdated. Vulnerable without terrorist help IMO.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. electric grid is outdated and needs a major overhaul if it is to carry electricity generated by renewable energy sources, a senior official with Southern California Edison told Congress on Thursday.

The Obama administration has called for doubling the amount of U.S. electricity produced by renewable sources, such as wind and solar power, during the next three years to reduce greenhouse emissions that cause global warming.

However, a so-called "smart" grid will be needed to transmit those power supplies from where they are generated in remote areas to consumers and businesses in cities.

www.reuters.com...

The U.S can build all the wind turbines and solar arrays it wants, but until it does something about improving its outmoded electricity grid, renewable energy will never reach its potential. What we need is a new electricity transmission system, with the costs shared by all.

e360.yale.edu...

reply to post by netwarrior


Its anoying but again, i dont see how it can be classed as a terrorist attack, I dont even think it should be put in the same league.

This is a job for the police and maybe the FBI. not really people investigating people who want to set of bombs in public places/bio attack/ "suitcase nuke".

It could be good for people, not having to worry about their mobiles. watching tv. stupid music played on the radio

[edit on 17-9-2009 by MR BOB]

Doesn't anyone remember (i think 2003) when 1/3 of America lost elecrticity for a couple days?!?!?! It was chaos!!!! That was summer too.

Imagine if all America lost electricity for a month or more. . . in the cold winter-time. . . it would probably KILL 50% of the country, and 75% of the world when trade stops and chaos spreads. . . but isn't that what the illuminati want?

The size of an EMP to knock out even just a city quite honestly is beyond a terrorist cell to carry out. Something of that magnitude takes a massive amount of research and money to develop that kind of weapon. The government has been developing this kind of thing for some time and still couldn't knock out an entire city unless you had a couple strategically placed.

This is definitely a false flag against terrorists. It would have to be an attack from a government either foreign or ours to deploy something like this currently imho.

Originally posted by MR BOB
reply to post by netwarrior

 

Its anoying but again, i dont see how it can be classed as a terrorist attack, I dont even think it should be put in the same league.

This is a job for the police and maybe the FBI. not really people investigating people who want to set of bombs in public places/bio attack/ "suitcase nuke".

It could be good for people, not having to worry about their mobiles. watching tv. stupid music played on the radio

[edit on 17-9-2009 by MR BOB]

I take it you dont like food either? go see what your frig is plugged into to keep your food from being rotten. I bet you get most of your news from the internet, thats now gone also. Need to call somebody for help? Gone.

We are completely reliant on the grid as a society. Even if you have your own backups they would probably be ruined in a big EMP blast unless you built a Faraday or w/e its called cage around your building.

reply to post by whoshotJR


yes i keep all my food in the fridge..i have like 30 cans of food in larder. and rice. pasta.. fresh veg. pickled veg. veg plants growing in garden.

i can cook with gas. i can cook with fire in the garden.

and shops can still function. i can still drive..

we have had electric for not long over 100 years.

the human race is over 1.2 million years old.

[edit on 17-9-2009 by MR BOB]

[edit on 17-9-2009 by MR BOB]