EMP threat

The EMP threat: What's being done?

As the Obama administration finds more ways to subsidize the greening of America, Washington has done virtually nothing to prevent the nation from going dark, possibly for months, in the event of a man-made or natural electromagnetic pulse (EMP).

This, despite findings in 2004 from the Congressional EMP Commission that just such an event — whether a high-altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon or a geomagnetic superstorm caused by the sun — could lead to societal collapse, warns former CIA Director R. James Woolsey in congressional testimony.

Even “a primitive, low-yield atomic bomb” from terrorists could disrupt communication, transportation, banking, food and water, according to Mr. Woolsey, who served as CIA director under President Clinton.

And he's far from alone.

A study by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission found that an EMP that knocks out nine key transformer substations could cause a nationwide blackout — for 18 months.