Congress to propose EMP legislation...the SHIELD Act

[Zulu Cowboy]

It's about damn time!!
Zulu Cowboy

Lights out: House plan would protect nation's electricity from solar flare, nuclear bomb

BY: PAUL BEDARD JUNE 17, 2013

Amid growing fears of a massive electromagnetic pulse hit from either a solar flare or a terrorist nuclear bomb, House Republicans on Tuesday will unveil a plan to save the nation's electric grid from an attack that could mean lights out for 300 million Americans.

Dubbed the Secure High-voltage Infrastructure for Electricity from Lethal Damage Act, the legislation would push the federal government to install grid-saving devices such as surge protectors to protect against an attack.

"It is critical that we protect our major transformers from cascading destruction. The Shield Act encourages industry to develop standards necessary to protect our electric infrastructure against both natural and man-made EMP events," said Rep. Trent Franks, the Arizona Republican who is offering up the bipartisan bill.

Electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, has come into focus because of fears the sun is pushing out unusually big solar flares that can disrupt the electric grid. Defense officials are also worried about a terrorist attack, possibly in the form of a small nuclear bomb exploded overhead.

"This is serious stuff," said former Pentagon official Frank Gaffney, who heads the Center for Security Policy. But, he added, there is a growing bipartisan consensus to protect the electric grid.

Any EMP attack could be damaging, said Gaffney. He cited a new Lloyds of London report that determined that the area from Washington, D.C., to New York could be without electricity for up to two years in a major solar flare-up.

The legislation will be introduced Tuesday by Franks and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at a meeting of the House EMP Caucus. Officials said that the legislation, provided in advance to Secrets, will include information from a recent EMP commission report that "contemporary U.S. society is not structured, nor does it have the means, to provide for the needs of nearly 300 million Americans without electricity.''

Gaffney told Secrets that there are some 300 huge electric transformers around the nation that control the grid and that have to be protected. "You are basically talking about surge protectors, of a somewhat exotic kind, but it is a means of interrupting the pulse," he said.

http://washingtonexaminer.com/lights...rticle/2532038

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[Miradus]

Sounds like a giant taxpayer subsidy to the electric companies, who just happen to be in need of major modernization for their aging grid at this time.

The government, a big centralized entity, is only capable of thinking in big, centralized methods. And those methods always seem to favor the big, centralized corporations.

There's a reason we call "electricity" by its other name ... "power".

I oppose this legislation and instead advocate that the government release the import controls on foreign-manufactured solar equipment and start pushing for the decentralization of the power grid.

[night driver]

Having listened to some of the guys who did MUCH of the EMP/HEMP/etc research in the 80's, 90's, and oughts, this is really a cash hold up for no valid scientific reason.

They try this about once a year, trying to stampede enough folks to vote for their personal corporate welfare handpout.

[.30-30]

Sounds like a giant taxpayer subsidy to the electric companies, who just happen to be in need of major modernization for their aging grid at this time.

i'm quite sure it's far more sinister than that. they are planning to effectively nationalize our electric grid. like you said.... it's all about power (no pun intended).

[hangontoHim]

I ain't so schmart and maybe I am missing the bigger picture... but it seems like an excellent idea to me. Maybe we don't have to rip on everything that is proposed?

[Zulu Cowboy]

The US govt. has known about the effects of EMP for over 50 years. It's hard to argue with the science. And although some may argue that this is just another government boondoggle; I would disagree. I don't think the money could be better spent! EMP was discovered back in 1962...America is much more dependent on the power grid, and all of our technology today.

Zulu Cowboy
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"Starfish Prime was a high-altitude nuclear test conducted by the United States of America on July 9, 1962, a joint effort of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the Defense Atomic Support Agency (which became the Defense Nuclear Agency in 1971).

Launched via a Thor rocket and carrying a W49 thermonuclear warhead (manufactured by Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) and a Mk. 2 reentry vehicle, the explosion took place 250 miles (400 km) above a point 19 miles (31 km) southwest of Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. It was one of five tests conducted by the USA in outer space as defined by the FAI. It produced a yield equivalent to 1.4 megatons of TNT...(snip)..."

"...Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements. The Starfish Prime electromagnetic pulse also made those effects known to the public by causing electrical damage in Hawaii, about 1,445 kilometres (898 mi) away from the detonation point, knocking out about 300 streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link. The EMP damage to the microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands." - LINK

[Miradus]

I guess it depends on what your view of government is.

As for me, if government came and dropped a sack of groceries off in my driveway every day, I'd look for a fishhook or a trap.

[Sleeping Cobra1]

Yeah Right.

[Son of George]

If it were not for the political power grabs this measure would be a no brainier. It is a simple fact that the cost of protecting the grid is minuscule compared to the cost of recovering from a massive solar flair (or high altitude nuclear explosion) which would take out electricity for tens of millions of people. But when we have no confidence in the government to do the right thing even the no brainier decisions go no place.

[Dr. Richard]

lol

The trap is to make you dependent on them so you become a good house slave who does and votes as they like.

I guess it depends on what your view of government is.

As for me, if government came and dropped a sack of groceries off in my driveway every day, I'd look for a fishhook or a trap.