The Power Grid – America’s Achilles’ Heel
Energy Security Requires National Leadership
By Scott Rudder
The former director of the Central Intelligence Agency, James Woolsey, issued a stark warning, based on a US government study, that the death of millions of Americans could be only weeks away due to our national power grid’s shocking vulnerability to man-made and natural disasters. Knowing that, you might assume that our national leaders are doing everything in their power to ensure that the grid is adequately protected and that tragedy will be averted. But you would be wrong.
Consider this, the United States is the most powerful country the world has ever known. We have the ability to cure the incurable, to explore the unexplorable, to give generously to our friends and to wreak devastation upon our enemies. We can do this because we, as a people, are inventive and determined, and we have the energy infrastructure to facilitate these amazing things. Simply put, our modern-day success is interdependent with our energy infrastructure.
Yet, all of this could come to a screeching halt through a single cyber or electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack from a rogue state or terror organization, or a major solar flare, known as a Carrington Event, which could plunge our nation into an extended blackout.
Posted: November 16th, 2015 | Author: admin | Filed under: Energy, Monmouth County, National Security, Opinion | Tags: Energy Council of New Jersey, Energy Grid, National Security, Opinion, Scott Rudder | Comments Off on The Power Grid – America’s Achilles’ Heel