Obama Exec Order Prepares for Catastropic Event

While electromagnetic pulses, or EMPs, are common and happen all around us, certain forms of this electrical phenomena can have devastating results.  Such results can range from a blown piece of audio gear to the complete shut-down of society.  No, that’s not an exaggeration.

President Obama has addressed this risk in a recent Executive Order.  While the policies of his administration are rightly called into question, EMPs are a real risk.  Especially the man-made sort of EMP which, in the extreme, can be generated by weapons that can destroy a nation:

Executive Order — Coordinating Efforts to Prepare the Nation for Space Weather Events

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to prepare the Nation for space weather events, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. Space weather events, in the form of solar flares, solar energetic particles, and geomagnetic disturbances, occur regularly, some with measurable effects on critical infrastructure systems and technologies, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite operations and communication, aviation, and the electrical power grid.Extreme space weather events — those that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure — could disable large portions of the electrical power grid, resulting in cascading failures that would affect key services such as water supply, healthcare, and transportation. Space weather has the potential to simultaneously affect and disrupt health and safety across entire continents. Successfully preparing for space weather events is an all-of-nation endeavor that requires partnerships across governments, emergency managers, academia, the media, the insurance industry, non-profits, and the private sector.

Naturally occurring EMPs such as lightning can reek havoc on electronic equipment in the vicinity of the strike.  EMPs created by the sun can take down electrical grids, effectively turning off the power to whole regions or countries until repairs can be made — which could take weeks, or much more depending on the severity.

Man-made EMPs of the deadly form can be generated by a type of nuclear bomb that would be detonated high in the atmosphere above a nation.  The results?  Imagine the effects of a lightning strike hitting every single piece of electronic gear in at least half of the US.  No power.  Cars with all their electronics are disabled.  Nothing electronic works.  Nothing moves.  No food, medical care, or drugs.  For months.  For potentially over a year.

Who would do such a thing?  Mr. Obama’s good friends in Iran have threatened the US with just such an attack.  Estimated casualties?  Over 90% of the US population dead.

Or as detailed here, North Korea, a nation that is anything but stable with a leader who is anything but stable could do it:

How could you deal with a highly armed American populace all at once if you wanted to take down the country? Why isn’t Barack Obama impeached or arrested yet? How could you get rid of 90% of the American population without ever setting foot on our soil?

All those questions could very well have the same answer: an EMP attack.

An Electromagnetic Pulse is a short burst of energy that has the ability to completely fry any and all electronics and can be brought about by a exploding a nuclear device at high altitude (North Korea is capable of doing this right now) or even just by a solar flare.  A cyber attack or simple physical assault could also take down our highly vulnerable grid.

Such an event would send us all back to the stone age as every single electronic device, including the power grid, would be completely destroyed.

Mr. Obama can issue all of the executive orders he wants, but they will not affect the laws of physics.  Neither are those executive orders likely to reduce the risk from potentially hostile nations.  That would require real leadership and statesmanship, things that have been in very short supply with this administration.