Obama Parting Shot: No Nuclear EMP Protection

[madoka]

Why does Obama hate the U.S. so much?

http://www.newsmax.com/PeterPry/emp-nuclear/2017/01/17/id/768979/

The Congressional EMP Commission warns that nuclear-armed rogue states or terrorists could make a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack that could blackout the national electric grid and other life-sustaining critical infrastructures for over a year — killing 9 of 10 Americans by starvation and societal collapse.

Yet, as the Obama administration goes out the door on its very last day, Jan.19, its Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is poised to pass a standard that is grossly inadequate to protect the nation from natural EMP, from solar storms, and that will make it much more difficult and expensive to pass future standards to protect the nation from nuclear EMP attack.

The Chairman of the EMP Commission, Dr. William R. Graham, asked me to share with Newsmax, and the American people, his letter below to the incoming Trump administration:

“I am William R. Graham, and was the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Science Advisor to President Reagan during his second term as President. Since its inception, I have been chairman of the Federal Statutory Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack (“EMP Commission”) a Commission Congress first established in 2001 and recently reestablished by NDAA 2016.

"The Congress has directed the EMP Commission to assess both man-made EMP and naturally-occurring (solar storm) EMP, often known as geomagnetic disturbances (GMDs), and report its findings to them and to the Administration. During its previous terms, the EMP Commission has submitted several classified reports, and two unclassified reports: Volume I, Executive Report (2004) and Critical National Infrastructures (2008). Both unclassified Reports can be found on-line . . . ”

"I wish to urgently inform you of a scheduled Jan. 19 ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on EMP protection of the U.S. Bulk Power System, the high-voltage portion of the U.S. national electric power grids. The planned ruling is likely to have far-ranging, seriously counterproductive national security implications.

"It may not be an accident that this action is being addressed on the last full day of the Obama administration, rather than at a time when the Trump administration can influence the ruling. The current FERC is made up entirely of three Obama administration appointees, all Democrats. Two Republican appointee slots are now empty.

"The term of one Democrat appointee is scheduled to end on June 30, 2017. After that time, a three appointee majority of FERC can become Trump Administration appointees.

“FERC currently plans to finalize a standard for only the natural occurring slow EMP called E3 and ignore the nuclear-weapon-generated EMP; however, the E3 component of EMP from high-altitude nuclear explosions can have higher amplitudes than the GMD E3, and there is also a substantially higher, intense electromagnetic fast pulse (E1) produced only by high-altitude nuclear weapons.


"Significantly, similar commercially-available equipment can be used to protect against nuclear EMP (E3) and naturally-occurring GMD EMP (E3), but comprehensive nuclear EMP protection also requires protection against E1.

"The cost to comprehensively protect the entire U.S. grid from both E1 and nuclear and naturally occurring E3 would be modest if integrated with geomagnetic disturbance protection, and much of that could be recovered by utilities from their ratepayers at a very low per capita cost.

"Despite several objections filed with the FERC, its ruling planned for 19 January has been carefully crafted to address only natural EMP. We expect that several duly filed requests for administrative rehearing are planned to be denied on 19 January.

"Once FERC makes its final ruling on the regulatory standard for only GMD EMP protection, it will be both difficult and more expensive to replace with the necessary comprehensive standard that integrates the nuclear EMP protection.

"President Trump will have the authority to appoint three new FERC Commissioners between January and July 2017. A rebalanced FERC could mandate integrated protection against both GMD and nuclear EMP, with substantial cost saving and major infrastructure survivability improvement that would significantly strengthen national security.

"I hope that this pending FERC ruling causes you grave concern, as it does for me.

 

[madoka]

I guess leaving our country vulnerable to attack goes with sending 130 tons of uranium to Iran as he leaves office:

http://www.dailywire.com/news/12249...tm_content=010917-news&utm_campaign=position1

Unsatisfied with stoking the fiery cauldrons of Islamic fundamentalism with his weak-kneed response during his eight-year tenure, Barack Obama has now enabled Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, to speed ever-closer toward successful attainment of nuclear weapons, approving a secret delivery of roughly 130 tons of uranium for the fundamentalist Iranian regime.

 

[compuwiz1]

Not a very good lame duck, was he?

There will be plenty of things exposed, once he's gone. I suspect there has been far more damage done than we've seen.

 

[Jhhnn]

Why does Obama hate the U.S. so much?

http://www.newsmax.com/PeterPry/emp-nuclear/2017/01/17/id/768979/

I guess leaving our country vulnerable to attack goes with sending 130 tons of uranium to Iran as he leaves office:

http://www.dailywire.com/news/12249...tm_content=010917-news&utm_campaign=position1

Fear monger often?

 

[Jhhnn]

Not a very good lame duck, was he?

There will be plenty of things exposed, once he's gone. I suspect there has been far more damage done than we've seen.

Of course you suspect, you avid little conspiracy theorist you.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Hardening against EMP is almost impossible to do comprehensively. Most at threat are the national grids so get off them. Other topologies make more sense and as solar improves there can be standards enacted to protect against individual units coming down and automatically makes worrying about the grid pointless. Heavy industries need modification, but focusing on them would be far easier than protecting an immense and weak spider web.

 

[Caesar]

Not a very good lame duck, was he?

There will be plenty of things exposed, once he's gone. I suspect there has been far more damage done than we've seen.

LOL crying about Obama after having elected a 70 yr old man-child with 12 yr old challenged brain!

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

LOL crying about Obama after having elected a 70 yr old man-child with 12 yr old challenged brain!

What matters is what is done and left undone. Considering the very real threats it should have been a high priority. It wasn't. If the incoming President doesn't do anything he'll be just as much at fault and neither names or respective party has any mitigation of foolishness.

 

[fleshconsumed]

What matters is what is done and left undone. Considering the very real threats it should have been a high priority. It wasn't. If the incoming President doesn't do anything he'll be just as much at fault and neither names or respective party has any mitigation of foolishness.

So the very real threat to this nation is terrorists obtaining nuclear device and detonating it at high altitude thus blacking out entire national grid for more than a year resulting in death of 90% of Americans in the year to follow? Not even SyFy could come up with a plot this unbelievably stupid.

 

[glenn1]

This sounds like the arsenic standard where mandating we protect against some given risk level provides a diminishing return. Sometimes you just accept a given level of risk because the cost to mitigate doesn't make business sense.

 

[brycejones]

So the very real threat to this nation is terrorists obtaining nuclear device and detonating it at high altitude thus blacking out entire national grid for more than a year resulting in death of 90% of Americans in the year to follow? Not even SyFy could come up with a plot this unbelievably stupid.

The OP is cowering in fear as we speak about this thanks to the muslim traitor in chief.

 

[brycejones]

I guess leaving our country vulnerable to attack goes with sending 130 tons of uranium to Iran as he leaves office:

http://www.dailywire.com/news/12249...tm_content=010917-news&utm_campaign=position1

LOLOLOLOL awesome! Sounds like a well reasoned and rational article, just the kind you go for.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

So the very real threat to this nation is terrorists obtaining nuclear device and detonating it at high altitude thus blacking out entire national grid for more than a year resulting in death of 90% of Americans in the year to follow? Not even SyFy could come up with a plot this unbelievably stupid.

Well if that is what I was suggesting then it would be stupid. I'm not worried about nukes, but there is real concern. You might try answering what they are perhaps? Two big ones I can think of offhand, besides environmental issues of current technologies vs. significant change without SyFy solutions.

If you have an opinion that implies an understanding. Whatcha got?

 

[FIVR]

Sharks with frickin' laser beams

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Well that sucks. This was finally our chance to see America under one giant tin foil hat.

Bastard!

 

[bshole]

This sounds like the arsenic standard where mandating we protect against some given risk level provides a diminishing return. Sometimes you just accept a given level of risk because the cost to mitigate doesn't make business sense.

Get a large enough solar flare and Western civilization is utterly fucked. They generally happen once a century and the last one occurred over a century ago so the risk is real and gains in probability as each year passes.

An electromagnetic surge from a solar storm is a more likely threat for an EMP. Generally, experts expect a bad solar storm to reach Earth about once every century, Baker said. The last time one hit the planet was during the Carrington event, when particles from a powerful coronal mass ejection overloaded telegraph wires and set paper messages on fire in 1859. A coronal mass ejection is an enormous sun eruption of super-hot plasma that spews charged particles across the solar system.

 

[Thebobo]

Newsmax is a right wing news site not much better then Breitbart.

I am more worried about the suns effect on our power grid as it could wipe out an entire side of the planet, not just a city. So more reason to decentralizing power producing stations with smaller local ones.

 

[John Connor]

And another mine was laid by Obozo. Worst President EVER!

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Well that sucks. This was finally our chance to see America under one giant tin foil hat.

Bastard!

I suppose you might put me in for one of those, but you probably know I'm not particularly worried about a nuke, yet taking EMPs seriously could save trillions and uncounted lives around the world. Look up Carrington event. Might not happen in your lifetime or it could be tomorrow. Might want to take precautions because it's not an imaginary thing like a nuke over the US, but a relatively recent historical event.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Newsmax is a right wing news site not much better then Breitbart.

I am more worried about the suns effect on our power grid as it could wipe out an entire side of the planet, not just a city. So more reason to decentralizing power producing stations with smaller local ones.

Yep, but this isn't about science or humanity. It's about politics as usual.

 

[brycejones]

And another mine was laid by Obozo. Worst President EVER!

Another rational, well reasoned post from Connor!

 

[IronWing]

And another mine was laid by Obozo. Worst President EVER!

How do you keep from giving yourself a bloody nose when your knee jerks like that?

 

[MongGrel]

Good one OP, needed a laugh.

We had a solar near miss in 2012.

http://www.space.com/26669-huge-solar-storm-2012-destruction.html

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Good one OP, needed a laugh.

We had a solar near miss in 2012.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/earth-survived-near-miss-2012-solar-storm-nasa-222404357.html?ref=gs

It's not important though, well not enough to do something about. How about a tin foil hat?

 

[John Connor]

How do you keep from giving yourself a bloody nose when your knee jerks like that?

This guy.

Another rational, well reasoned post from Connor!

This guy.