Anyone who’s done more than glance at this site will know that we take the threat of an EMP attack very seriously. It deserves it. Unless there’s a major nuclear war, or an extinction-level event on the magnitude of a giant asteroid hitting the planet or the Yellowstone supervolcano finally blowing its top, a properly executed EMP would inflict more damage on the USA than anything else you could imagine.
So, considering how destructive an EMP attack would be, you would expect the government to be working hard to protect us against one. After all, if there’s a legitimate reason for governments to exist in the first place, this is it – protecting the American people from a threat that could kill most of us and change the survivors’ way of life forever. If governments at all levels, from your town selectmen up to the White House, have time to mess around with gender-free restrooms and arranging welfare payments for illegal aliens, surely that means they’re well on top of the important stuff like protecting us from an EMP?
No. Dead wrong. The fact is that, despite the massive damage an EMP attack would inflict on the USA, our government has done almost nothing to protect us against it. They haven’t invested the money in hardening key infrastructure or preparing to recover from an attack. They haven’t put anyone in charge of making those preparations. They haven’t even told the American people the full extent of the threat.
Related: You Will Not Survive an EMP Strike Without This
All Talk, No Action
In fact, all that’s really happened is that, round about the turn of the century, Congress set up the snappily named Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack, usually known as the EMP Commission. Nothing much happened and the commission basically faded away, unlike the threat, but in November 2015 the National Defense Authorization Act re-established the EMP Commission and funded it through to June 2017.
It’s fair to say that the government hasn’t thrown its full weight behind the EMP Commission. In fact although there were enough funds to keep it running past June 2017, the DoD withdraw most of its support when the original funding date passed, leaving the Commission to do the best it could on its own. Luckily the Commission had some dedicated people on board, including experts on intelligence, communications, electronics and nuclear weapons. They include a retired USAF general, several ex-professors from national nuclear laboratories and a former director of the CIA; this isn’t just a handful of political talking heads.
How Bad Is It Anyway?
Last July the EMP Commission released a report on the USA’s preparedness for EMP attack, and it makes grim reading. The government has been warned for years about the potential consequences of an EMP; but there’s been almost no action on any of the recommendations. Some of the worst problems identified were:
There has been no effort to expand backup electricity sources for the national grid. The technology exists to build large battery backups that can keep essential services running until repairs can begin – in fact these backups are actually being installed in Australia right now. They’re not being installed in the USA, even though the manufacturer is Tesla, a US company. Battery backups can’t replace power stations even for a short time, but they can provide enough power to assist repair workers.- If there are repair workers, of course. The Commission found that there are very few people with the skills to repair or rebuild the power grid after an EMP. There are still homes in Puerto Rico without power almost a year after Hurricane Maria hit, and the main reason for that is a shortage of technicians who can repair the damage. If we struggle to repair downed power lines and water-damaged transformers on one territory, how will we cope when the entire grid has been damaged by EMP? Unless more technicians are trained in a hurry the lights could be off for a very long time.
- We have almost no ability to “black start” the grid – get it up and running again after a total blackout. Most procedures for repairing and restarting damaged sections of the grid rely on having power available from the rest of it. As it stands, even if sections of the grid can be repaired quickly we might not be able to get them running again.
- There’s been almost no attempt made to harden power stations, transformers or even power cables against EMP. The North American power grid isn’t in great shape. It’s at risk from natural events like a coronal mass ejection; in 1989 a fairly small CME knocked out power across the whole of Quebec and parts of New Jersey. In its current state, the grid would be devastated by an EMP attack.
- Nobody has overall responsibility for EMP defense. That means even if government departments and agencies to start preparing for an attack, their work won’t be coordinated. That wastes taxpayers’ money, which is bad enough – but it also risks leaving gaps in preparedness that could undermine the whole thing. The Commission has asked the government to appoint someone to coordinate planning for EMP defense. It hasn’t happened.
- The DoD is withholding information from the public. Commissioner Peter Pry says seven key reports on EMP, containing information that would help the American people understand and prepare to survive the threat, are still classified; Pry blames holdovers from the Obama administration for the failure to publish this vital data.
There has been no effort to expand backup electricity sources for the national grid. The technology exists to build large battery backups that can keep essential services running until repairs can begin – in fact these backups are actually being installed in Australia right now. They’re not being installed in the USA, even though the manufacturer is Tesla, a US company. Battery backups can’t replace power stations even for a short time, but they can provide enough power to assist repair workers.
There’s been almost no attempt made to harden power stations, transformers or even power cables against EMP. The North American power grid isn’t in great shape. It’s at risk from natural events like a coronal mass ejection; in 1989 a fairly small CME knocked out power across the whole of Quebec and parts of New Jersey. In its current state, the grid would be devastated by an EMP attack.Related: 10 Things to Have Ready before the Huge EMP !!!
So Now What?
It’s not all bad news, of course. The EMP Commission has praised President Trump’s Executive Order 13800, aimed at protecting the electrical grid and other networks against cyber attack. Commissioner Pry is urging the administration to include EMP as one of the threats covered by the EO, as it’s on the same spectrum as cyber warfare – an attack on infrastructure, not directly against the American people.
However, even if the government finally starts to listen to advice and steps up their preparations for an EMP attack, it’s going to be years before they accomplish anything. Upgrading the grid to a pint where it can be quickly reactivated after an EMP could take 15 years or more. Hardening computer networks would be quicker, but computers aren’t a lot of use without power to run them. There are hostile countries that could attack us with EMP now, and there will be a lot more by the time the government gets anything done – even if it starts now.
The ugly truth is that it’s going to be a long time, if ever, before our politicians do anything useful to protect us against electromagnetic pulse weapons. If you want to survive an EMP event, you’re going to have to take action yourself. That means being ready to do without electronics – and electricity itself – as much as possible, and ensuring you have a robust power supply and EMP protection for the gadgets you do need. It would be a lot better if the government invested in a grid and generation system robust enough to withstand an EMP, or at least be quickly restarted after one. But they’re not doing that, so as usual we’re on our own.
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yackity, yack, yack. I understand the dangers and have for 40 years, but your video is way too long.
I’d buy the book, but don’t want to wait hours to find out how.
Don’t you think that the U.S. Military would not reply with such an attack on the perpetrator with a nuke missile from a U.S. Sub?
No Lee, I don’t think our military would retaliate on the perpetrator if somebody like obama was president.
None, are you for real? “I understand the dangers” does not mean you can do anything about it. LOL You can always type “book on how to survive a EMP.” LOL Took me less than a minute.
This topic has been addressed way to many times. Lets try another one.
No…the govt. hasn’t done much to prepare or even given us information on EMP effects.
What easier way for population control do they have???
Try chlorine. My wife and I owned a large rv resort in central FL for many years. Our water supply was under the jurisdiction of the EPA. My EPA operator was there to check our water supply four days a week. They were going to fine me one day for not having all of the proper clothing on hand for the operator to add chlorine to the water tank. Jokingly I said, if chlorine is so dangerous, why are we adding it to the water for everyone to drink. He said, “POPULATION CONTROL” and laughed. We refuse to drink any water from the tap and won’t give it to our two dogs or cook with it. Hopefully it’s not absorbed through our skin during showers, but probably is.
A good salt filter from a water filter company will get out all the chlorine, it will also get rid of fluoride, that some governments say is good for childrens teeth, but is really only good for Alcoa
Yes!!, fluoride was listed either last year or the year before, as a carcinogen, but of course nary a word in public about that. It does major damage to your endoctrine system and to your thyroid. Yet, it is in toothpaste, mouthwash, vitamins, & some places still hype ‘fluorinated water’ as a good thing. STOP USING THIS CRAP!!! It does major damage to your organs big time. Ditto for aluminum, proplyene glycol & sodium benzene (benzoate) in your deodorant , face cream & shampoo, etc… These chemicals are killing off your organs like you wouldn’t believe…
Pure chlorine is nasty stuff, but slow down before you try to avoid it completely. For a start, it’s one of the quickest and most effective ways to kill the bacteria in water. What would you rather have – a bit of chlorine, or some cholera bacteria? I’ll go for the chlorine, specially because it’s also an essential nutrient. If your body doesn’t get enough of it your digestive system will shut down and your brain will begin to dehydrate. Before it dehydrates too much you’ll die, because your nervous system will stop working.
There are enough dangers in the world. Let’s not add chemophobia to the list.
Unfortunately for you, you will probably die, too!
So another article on EMPs and how woefully unprepared we are and how bad it is. Yawn. We already know this.
Yes, but are you doing anything to ensure your survival if an EMP does occur?
No need. Worse comes to worse, my Jeep, phone and computer go down, maybe my generators. That’s it. I already have preps in place, I grow my own food, I have a lake nearby and water filtration set up. I’m ok.
Planned depopulation? Or just lackadaisical government. I’m off grid anyway and hope I’d be safe. But have some prep done, just in case.
Yes it’s an old subject to many who are paying attention. But for the sake of the many who haven’t heard yet, keep the info out there.
Thanks, Clergylady. Sadly, I don’t have the funds to truly prepare or even make a good start, but I am trying. The more people prepared the fewer deaths and just as important the fewer looters driven by desperation. In this situation, it’s quite possible people will be killing each other over items necessary for survival.
Don’t you think that the U.S. Military would not reply with such an attack on the perpetrator with a nuke missile from a U.S. Sub?
Lee: No need to re-post your reply. Replies are delayed in appearing. Claude changed his system a while back and now responses take anywhere from a few minutes to hours to appear. He doesn’t know why that is happening and apparently it is sporadic, making it that much more difficult to track down.
One of the problems of nuclear response is whom do you hit? An attack from the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico or an attack from the southeast, again off the coast of Mexico from an foreign flag registered freighter with cargo containers on deck is, apparently, the most likely source of an EMP attack. So who do we blast out of existence if a short range missile is launched from such a Liberia-registered freighter that has been wandering from small port to small port for the last three months?
All of our missile defense systems are located to oppose attacks from the north which is where ICBMs would come from. A SCUD missile from a freighter would do significant damage to our grid system even if it could not reach optimum altitude. Unfortunately, with the way our grid system is tied together, taking out a large segment of just one area would likely cause a cascading effect that would take almost all of our entire system with the exception of Alaska and Texas.
The mutually assured annihilation that kept the Russians and, possibly the Chinese, at bay isn’t as much of a deterrent with a unidentified rogue nation or terrorist group attack.
With almost everybody and his brother able to put a satellite in the sky, who knows what is contained in the hundreds of satellites orbiting over the U.S. on a daily basis?
I’m certainly not a rocket scientist by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to me one would not need a giant rocket motor to launch a bomb from a satellite. Re-entry could be controlled with compressed air jets and a drogue chute. Could our radar spot something even as big a what was dropped on Japan and react in time to destroy it before it detonated over the U.S.?
The more pressing problem is our ancient grid system. In an effort to prevent localized blackouts, the system is tied together in such a way that currently, if one segment goes down power from other segments can be switched to the downed segment seamlessly and power maintained throughout the grid. That is also precisely the achilles heal of the system, it is tied together. As ancient as it is and as rickety as it is, I think there is a good chance of it collapsing under its own weight one of these days.
SoCal Edison has already promised its prisoners that if there are windy days where the danger of a 50 year old electric line being dropped, they will cut electric off. So that means we can look forward to no electricity on windy days here in SoCal when the santa ana winds are blowing.
Indeed, rather than building more power stations in an economy that is almost completely dependent upon a steady flow of electricity, we are busily engaged in decommissioning power plants. I don’t know how many power plants along the California coast have been decommissioned and dismantled due to the greenies insisting that they despoil the coast. The folks who own the local power plant located about 20 miles from my house decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle to try to keep the power plant as a peaker power plant to use in such emergencies as a loss of power in one segment or an overwhelming demand such as in a heat wave and it is going to be decommissioned and dismantled within five years. San Onofre is off line. I think the atomic generating plant near San Luis Obispo is off line. Aside from some wind turbines, the solar arrays in the desert near Barstow, the thermal generating plant in the Napa wine country, I don’t know of any generating plants in California, probably the biggest user of electric power in the western U.S.
If I were younger and going to live in this house much longer I would definitely be actively investigating ways to take this house permanently off the grid.
Lee, is that assuming that their US sub is prepared to survive a EMP? To be honest, I’m not at all sure.
A US Sub would survive an EMP unless it was on the surface or at port in direct line of site of EMP source. The issue is who do you retaliate against? Also, consider if not done from a ICBM the submarine will simply lose contact with the US Navy stateside. The Navy and for that matter the US military is a global force that can maintain effectiveness only for a short period of time without logistical support.
Given that what is the real point? The military will quickly become ineffective as a fighting force without allied support which has limitations. In the end a retaliation without the ability to wage war on foreign soil only gives a bad actor nation or nations the justification to invade and occupy the US.
Ah, well invading the U.S. will be easier said than done. There are only a few countries with enough population to control the U.S.: China, India, Russia.
First there is the problem of supply lines. It is a long way from Shanghai to Long Beach. It costs big bucks to haul gear that far. It is even further from Vladivostok to Seattle and while I don’t have a port on the Indian coast at the top of my head, it is further yet.
You are not talking about landing a RCT or even a reinforced division. To control the U.S. the conquering country is going to need multiple divisions. Sure, they can take the coast but then there is all that fly-over country that the slithering slobs of the coastal regions like to sneer at.
Look at how well we controlled Vietnam and it is about the size of California. Then we move to Iraq. Sure, we might have “controlled” the cities but there was a lot of land that was indian country. Look at how well we are doing in Afghanistan. Sure are controlling the countryside there, aren’t we? The soviets didn’t have the scruples we seem to have about wasting villages and shooting up “civilians” and they were no more successful than we have been.
The Soviets might be able to successfully invade and conquer Alaska but it is a long way down the Alcan Highway and the Canucks might not be too happy with a bunch of Ruskies driving down through their territory — or flying over it for that matter. They may not have especially warm feelings for their southern neighbors right now, but I am quite certain their welcome to invading Ruskies would be even chillier.
Yeah, I can see the Russians and the Chinese occupying San Diego, Long Beach/LA, Seattle and Portland but it is a long arduous march from LA to Las Vegas and an even further more arduous march from L.V. to Denver. I sure wouldn’t want to fight my way from LA to Denver.
It wont be a problem after the EMP and a large number of people are dead. They can slowly take over. But, the pockets of people will be brutal.
No, I don’t, for a couple of reasons. First, one big advantage of an EMP is that it makes plausible deniability pretty easy. As Chuck pointed out, a Scud missile launched from an anonymous freighter could deliver the weapon. Or it could be concealed in some piece of anonymous space junk – there are thousands of pieces of debris circling around in orbit, enough that they’re becoming a real threat to space launches.
Second, would we even be able to launch? All US strategic weapons have a Permissive Action Link fitted. This physically blocks the weapon from being launched and the warhead from being armed. Unless the President or an authorized substitute gives the launch command, the Pentagon won’t send out the code that deactivates the PAL. And unless the PAL is deactivated, none of our weapons can be used. The subs will be safe from EMP – but will the systems used to send out the deactivation codes? As far as I know, nobody’s ever tested them. When the Brits built their Trident subs they left out the PAL, so their sub commanders can fire on their own initiative if they need to. Ours can’t. We might want to rethink that when we build the next generation of subs.
I’m slowly preparing, but lack of money is holding me back.
I’m preparing slowly, but lack of money is holding me back. Money is a big factor in anything.
You’re right about that, and I think most of us would say we’re not as prepared as we could be if only we had the money. Every little helps, though. You might not be able to afford a lot, but it’s still better than nothing. We’re also always looking for ways to prepare on a budget. If you have any ideas about that please share them with us!
I am fortunate in that I live in Texas, I have land, and I don’t have to go very far for a bug out situation. Unfortunately, I don’t have lot’s of money, or a very green thumb.
I have learned a lot from this and other websites. The most important things in my mind that needed to be covered in a SHTF situation were water, shelter, and tools for survival. I opted for a water filtering straw, tent and survival blankets, and a good knife/machete, gun and paracord. These items will be condemned by some, but as time has progressed, I have included a stockpile of food, matches, extra clothing per season, and lots of printouts for medical, plant identification, and food preservation.
Economics has to play a big part in my prepping, because I don’t want to experience a loss that will be hard to overcome.
I have just added a 22 cal air rifle. It is economical, quiet, and a perfect size for small game.
I already have plenty of tools, nails, screws, and duct tape, and my next “expense” will be a portable saw mill.
I am learning new ways to cut corners, and this website has some good information for doing just that. I want to thank all of the valuable contributors, and encourage others to add input also.
Wonder if you can get an FOI suit passed for the information.
Sure you can if you have the bucks to afford an attorney who specializes in FOI lawsuits against governmental agencies. Remember the government can print more money if they run out, something you can’t do. A retainer for a lawsuit like that would probably run $25,000 before the lawyer did anything other than draw up a retainer agreement. You can count on that 25 large being used up in the filing and serving of the complaint and an answer to the first motion to dismiss. Arguing the motion in court would get the meter spinning like a top. Every time a motion to dismiss is denied the government would file an appeal. They don’t have to win on the merits of the case, they grind you down with procedure— and keep printing more phony money.