June 14, 2013 – Maine Leads the Nation in Dealing with EMP!

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June 14, 2013 – Maine Leads the Nation in Dealing with EMP!

By Ambassador Henry F. Cooper

June 14, 2013

I also serve on the Board of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, which on June 11 issued the following press release regarding an initiative by Maine State Legislator Andrea Boland (D-Sanford) which became law on the 69th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2013, as highlighted in our June 7, 2013 email report: Remember Maine and June 6!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 11, 2013

NEW LAW REQUIRES MAINE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO EXAMINE ELECTRIC GRID THREATS FROM SOLAR STORMS AND ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE

MAINE LEADS THE NATION IN PROTECTING ITS ELECTRIC GRID

AUGUSTA ME—The State of Maine is the first in the nation to mandate a study of electric grid threats from solar storms and man-made electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A bill directing the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to examine measures to mitigate the effects of geomagnetic disturbances caused by solar storms and nuclear electromagnetic pulse on the state’s electric grid transmission system was recently passed by a unanimous vote of the Maine House of Representatives and a 32-3 vote in the Senate. This new law requires the PUC to identify the most vulnerable components of the State’s transmission system, and also identify potential protective measures, their costs, and probable timeframes to implement.

When sunspots erupt, they send masses of charged particles toward the earth. These particles interact with the earth’s magnetic field causing so-called “geomagnetic disturbances”. Solar storms can induce harmful currents in high voltage transmission lines. In March 1989, a relatively small solar storm plunged the Province of Quebec into a widespread grid blackout affecting six million electric customers. According to multiple U.S. Government reports, a five to ten-times larger solar storm—a historical example being the Carrington Event of 1859—could cause a years-long blackout for the State of Maine and much of the eastern United States.

Current operational procedures of ISO-New England for solar storms are inadequate to protect the Maine and larger New England electric grids, according to testimony heard at a March 21 work session of the Energy, Utilities, and Technology Committee of the Maine State Legislature.

A nuclear bomb detonated high in the atmosphere could send an electromagnetic pulse downward and permanently damage electric grid transformers, according to reports from the Congressional Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Commission and Oak Ridge National Laboratories.

“I am proud that Maine has taken the lead on an issue that paralysis in Congress has let go unattended for too long,” said Representative Andrea Boland of Sanford, sponsor of the bill. “Maine is particularly vulnerable to solar storms, due to its northerly latitude, geology, and proximity to the ocean. Legislators, the PUC, and the Governor understood what the experts were telling them, and responded.”

The $1.4 billion Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP), a high voltage transmission system upgrade, would substantially increase the risk of long-term electric grid blackout from solar storms, according to John Kappenman, one of the nation’s foremost experts on the effects of sunspot eruptions on power grids. “While the new transmission lines add capacity, most of them parallel existing lines and terminate near existing substations,” said Mr. Kappenman. “As a result, the redundant lines could result in a near-doubling of harmful currents induced by these storms in transmission lines in Maine. The antenna will be twice as big, and the storm impact to the power grid is likely to be twice as severe.”

“Maine has narrowly missed blackouts due to solar storms, with numerous ‘trips’ of critical grid equipment,” said Thomas Popik, Chairman of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, a non-profit group that conducts scientific studies on solar storms and their effect on electric grids. “Our recent study of the New England grid shows that generation and transmission capacity likely to be lost during a solar storm is several times the available reserves. We look forward to the upcoming study of the Maine PUC on this important issue.”

“Maine has accomplished in less than six months what Washington has failed to accomplish in years. For a half decade, Washington has tried, and failed, to pass the GRID Act, the SHIELD Act, and other legislation to protect the national electric grid and the lives of millions of the American people from a natural or nuclear EMP Catastrophe,” exulted Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, Executive Director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, a Congressional Advisory Board. “Now Maine has succeeded where Washington has failed and is setting an excellent example that other states can follow by launching state initiatives to protect their own electric grids, instead of waiting for the leadership that Washington seems no longer able to provide. It is perhaps symptomatic of how deeply corrupt and incompetent Washington has become that billions of dollars are spent snooping through the phone calls and e-mails of average Americans, frisking grandmas and babies at airports, and living in fear of the next Underwear Bomber, while Washington ignores the truly existential threat from EMP, and leaves it up to the State of Maine to take the lead on EMP protection. In this Electronic Age, in this era of Cyber Warfare, the passage of LD-131 is akin to the charge of the 20th Maine at Little Roundtop during the Battle of Gettysburg that saved the Union. Once again the brave little State of Maine has come to the Nation’s rescue. I would add that protection of the Maine electric grid from EMP would make it the ideal site to locate the new high-tech military base on the East Coast to support the expansion of the National Missile Defense recently authorized by the House Armed Services Committee.”

For more background, the following information and contacts are provided:

Representative Andrea Boland of Sanford, Maine is available for interviews on the newly passed bill. Email Ms. Boland at sixwings@metrocast.net, phone 207-432-7893.

John Kappenman of Storm Analysis Consultants is available for interviews on technical aspects of solar storm effects on electric grids. Email Mr. Kappenman at jkappenma@aol.com, phone 218-391-4015.

The research report of the Foundation for Resilient Societies, “Solar Storm Risks for Maine and the New England Electric Grid, and Potential Protective Measures,” can be found on the foundation’s website, www.resilientsocieties.org. Mr. Popik of the Foundation for Resilient Societies is available for interviews on costs of solar storm protection. Email Mr. Popik at thomasp@resilientsocieties.org , phone 603-321-1090.The Foundation for Resilient Societies does not endorse any specific legislative action in the State of Maine, or in other states, or in the U.S. Congress.

Dr Peter Pry of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security has written a recent article on protection of Maine’s electric grid from solar storms, “Maine’s Battle to Save America,” which can be found on the Family Security Matters website. Dr. Pry is available for interviews on how Maine’s effort to protect its grid may make it a prime site for a missile defense system. Email Dr. Pry at peterpry@verizon.net; phone 301-481-4715.

The full text of the bill can be found at:

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP0106&item=2&snum=126

All of us who worked to help Andrea are gratified by her success and hope it will lead other states’ legislatures and local authorities to follow suit—and, eventually, perhaps even the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee will get the message that all Americans need to be protected from this existential electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threat to our way of life and permit the The Shield Act to be voted upon by the full U.S. House of Representatives.

I believe that this D-Day success was due to Maine’s past experience with the effects of less than massive but still major solar storms and Representative Boland’s persistent public inquiry and sponsorship of expert public testimony. Her proposed Act was supported by the entire Maine House of Representatives and all but three Senators. In particular these factors helped foil the attempts of biased studies that have downplayed this existential threat—including studies by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), which is supposed to be looking out for the public interest. The House Energy and Commerce Committee should follow her lead with a similar effort to expose the facts to the light of day.

As we have previously written, a recent international conference on this subject indicated that the United Kingdom and Israel have focused their activities to seriously deal with the EMP threat. See The Telegraph’s June 7 article that seeks to educate the U.K. on key factors of the solar storms that threaten them.

Meanwhile the U.S. interagency process seems dysfunctional, and is not dealing effectively with these issues. Thus, High Frontier has plans to take these issues to the American people in any way that we can, and inform them also of the things that can be done to deal with the threat—beginning at home, just as illustrated by Andrea! Ultimately, we must have effective defenses against this existential threat—which may come from either of two sources: one man-made, and one from natural causes. Please click here to learn more.

What can you do?

We can use your help in spreading the word to the grass roots and local authorities so that they will understand the existential EMP threat and press the powers that be to provide for the common defense as they in turn are sworn to do. Follow Andrea Boland’s example! Will you do your part?

Begin by passing this message to your friends and suggest they visit our webpage, www.highfrontier.org for more information. Also, please encourage your sphere of influence to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter!

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