Hey, could we please…
…do something about this?
It seems a lot more imminent than global warming. Plus, it’s supposedly a relatively simple and not-too-expensive fix.
The New Neo
A blog about political change, among other things
…do something about this?
It seems a lot more imminent than global warming. Plus, it’s supposedly a relatively simple and not-too-expensive fix.
“Electricity is the lifeblood of the modern world. Food, transportation, medical facilities and communication systems all need it to function. In the first few minutes of an EMP [event or attack], nearly half a million people would die.
Other than a very large meteoroid strike, there is no quicker nor more certain manner in which to destroy America and/or any first world society. If electrical, transportation, medical and communication systems went down for more than a month, our country would collapse and the death estimates are as high as 300 million in the first year from starvation, violence and lack of medical care.
Truly, apocalypse now. As far as I know, Newt Gingrich is the only major national political figure speaking about this threat.
It seems a lot more imminent than global warming. Plus, it’s supposedly a relatively simple and not-too-expensive fix.
Which is precisely why the POTUS wouldn’t want to fix it.
It might be relatively simple, but that “not-too-expensive” part is not believable
By “not-too-expensive” I suspect the electrical grid, communications, the internet infrastructure, hospitals, the banking industry, food processing plants and the trucking industry are primarily what they are referring to, rather than protecting our personal electronics and cars. And even if it cost 50 billion it would be a bargain.
But can Leftists and Democrat millionaires make green money off of this fix?
We spent billions to ‘prevent’ Y2K which was a false crisis; the ramifications of an emp attack or a solar event are all to real. However, I think the costs would exceed 50 billion, but in an annual budget that is rising to the 4 trillion threshold, 50+ billion is small change.
Actually, modern micro-electronics are ever harder to injure via EMP.
Apple’s MacBook Pro is immune. It’s a Faraday box with a computer inside.
EMP has telling effects upon L O N G conductors like power lines and copper phone lines.
But, copper phone lines are now being phased out rapidly everywhere.
EMP is as much a boogie-man hustle as global warming.
Hence, we’re never going to be rid of chicken-little’s.
blert,
Your MacBook Pro is of utterly no consequence, the electrical grid is a horse of a different color.
I was once ready for TEOTWAWKI. Home in the mountains with a well where we could hand pump water. We had lots of firewood, candles, coal-oil lamps, a big propane tank, an outdoor privy, stocks of freeze-dried food, guns, plenty of ammo, and a bag of silver coins. There were trout in the streams, elk/deer in the woods, squirrels, rabbits, and raccoons aplenty. We could have held out for a year, maybe longer, assuming no mass attack by roving scavengers or major medical problems. It was the 70s and many things we are seeing now were in play then.
The thing that angers me, is that they are in play again. What is the matter with us? Russia is potentially the richest nation in the world, but they’re not because they have a fascist, oligarchic political system. We are the wealthiest nation in the world and are flushing it all down the toilet because inequality or fairness or ?
Our wealth is based on our ability to produce the wealth of the nation represented by our farms, ranches, forests, mines, oil/gas wells, transportation systems, electric generation systems. They are the foundation of all else. We wonder why our economy doesn’t recover. It’s because the government is using the EPA and many unnecessary environmental regulations to hamper and lock down the foundation industries. This started back in the late 60s when the Endangered Species Act was passed and has gained momentum. They are slowly grinding up private property rights and moving productive ranches, farms, mines, oil/gas wells, and logging operations out of production. The Nevada ranchers, Cliven Bundy and Wayne Hage are just the most recently visible victims of their efforts.
Breitbart has a nice essay, which is a fictional retrospective from the year 2064. The title is:
“Cliven Bundy and the Origins of the American Abundance Revolution.” Read it here:
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/04/19/Cliven-Bundy-and-the-Origins-of-the-American-Abundance-Revolution
It’s my belief that this is very possible. It only requires that a few million people start voting for less government and more attention to the business of America, which is producing wealth and freedom.
As for fixing the grid. It can be done. It should be done. $50 billion is five days of government spending – about 1.4% of the budget. We could find the money, if it was a priority. Truth be told, many companies are ready for a grid failure and, as blert avers, it would probably not be apocalyptic. Some areas would be in worse shape than others. Recovery might be slow, but if people are ready to “rough it” for a month or two, things would recover. Some people believe that urban areas would recover more quickly than rural and they might be right. All that said, it’s something that should be done without much debate. But it might create jobs and we know that’s not an Obama priority, no matter what he claims. 🙁
It goes to “narrative”, EMP does not fit. Just like gun control is not about guns, it is about control. Global warming is about control of the masses, spend their money and control what kind of car they drive, what house they live in, what they eat, all in the name of some hard to pin down agenda.
The simplest and the most cost-effective measure would be to bury all electric cables in densely populated urban areas. This will save from destruction the most critical infrastructure on which most people depend.
You need a Faraday cage to shield from EMI – a metal enclosure. According to Maxwell’s equations, a magnetic field turns to a surface current on a conductor, and and electric field resides as a surface charge.
You would need to bury cables pretty deep to be immune to EMI, as an EM field penetrates the earth pretty nicely. For example, ground penetrating radar.
The cables should be in conduit or shielded with screen. Attenuation of the EM field depends on the hole size of the screen. The wavelength of the pulse determines the maximum size of the screen to achieve appropriate attenuation.
2 billion seems to be on the light side for this kind of project.