Local and state initiatives are gaining momentum and potentially can prompt needed solutions to counter the existential threats posed by an indefinite loss of the electric power grid — today an all too real possibility. These “bottoms-up” initiatives offer hope to all Americans in spite of the lethargy among the “powers that be” who are failing at their sworn duty. Will the solutions come in time? Read Full Story
Local and state initiatives are needed to protect all Americans from some existential threats to the electric power grid, because leaders in the Federal Government are failing at their duty to “provide for the common defense.” Happily, much can be accomplished by such initiatives, but protection against ballistic missiles launched from vessels in the Gulf of Mexico requires action by the Federal Government to protect the entire nation. Read Full Story
A growing number of Americans are concerned that the once highly classified threat from an electromagnetic pulse is still not being addressed, even though the Pentagon has known about it for a half-century and most essential matters were made public in the 2008 EMP Commission report. Our civil infrastructure was never hardened, except for communication systems to assure connectivity from the President to our strategic forces. Read Full Story
Earlier this week as part of the EMP Coalition, I carried the High Frontier flag to The National Council of State Legislators (NCSL) Legislative Summit in Atlanta. Legislators from all over the country were in attendance. We were there especially to call attention to the initiative by Andrea Boland (D-Maine) to begin hardening the electric power grid in Maine. She led numerous panel discussions of the existential EMP threat from natural and man-made causes, and how other representatives can follow Maine’s lead as the first state in the nation to take matters into its own hands, given the failure of federal leaders “to provide for the common defense,” per the oath they swore to Constitution. The prospects look promising! Read Full Story
Last Monday, President Bill Clinton’s Director of Central Intelligence, R. James Woolsey; Dr. Peter Pry, who leads the Task Force on National and Homeland Security; and I joined in a discussion of the existential threat of a natural or nuclear electromagnetic pulse (EMP). The event, sponsored by the newly established EMP Coalition—of which Mr. Woolsey is the Honorary Co-Chair along with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich—is summarized here, by clicking below. A YouTube video of the 2-hour conference is included. Read Full Story
The recently formed EMP Coalition presentations at the National Press Club provided an overview of the existential electromagnetic pulse threat posed by natural and man-made causes and what must be done to counter both threats—with an emphasis on the importance of the Shield Act now being considered in the House for the third congress. Hopefully, it will pass during this third try, as advocated by the bipartisan EMP Caucus and as supported by seven out of ten Americans, according to a recent poll. Read Full Story
The recent discovery of a North Korean vessel carrying military technology, including rockets and various military components, from Cuba through the Panama Canal illustrates the threats from the South. Whatever the Intelligence Community eventually concludes about the purposes of this trading between Cuba and North Korea, it illustrates the “cacophony of proliferation” that poses a serious threat to the United States from the south—a serious “southern exposure.” Read Full Story
Assuming that key provisions of the Senate Armed Services Committee recommended National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2014 becomes law, there will be an opportunity for a Report to Congress to address serious gaps in our defenses against nuclear armed ballistic missiles that could attack us from vessels off our coasts -especially from the Gulf of Mexico-and from nuclear armed satellites – especially those that come toward the U.S. from over the South Pole. Hopefully, a thorough examination and appropriate actions will be in time to counter a potential existential threat. Read Full Story
Space based interceptors are potentially the most cost-effective way to defend against ballistic missiles of all ranges more than a few hundred miles—and over twenty years ago the technology was sufficiently mature to build such a system within five years of a decision to do so. But the pathway to such cost-effective defenses is blocked by ideological concerns that masquerade behind phony arguments, such as about costs—and contrary to findings 20 years ago that have been forgotten, after the key programs were canceled in 1993. How can we go back to the future? Read Full Story
There is a good news from Capitol Hill to add to Last Friday’s message of hope that the 113th Congress will take up legislation to protect the electric power grid—without which the electromagnetic pulse from a natural or manmade event could lead to the death of several hundred million Americans. The SASC version of the National Defense Authorization Act provides hope that two major High Frontier concerns will be addressed in a Defense Department study that will consider how best to counter ballistic missiles launched from vessels off our coasts and nuclear-armed satellites that approach the U.S. from over the South Pole. Stay tuned for the rest of the debate! Read Full Story
We will be adding key policy briefs as we progress.