Bruce Ritchie
Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey Jr. on Monday urged legislators to take action to protect Florida’s electric grid from a terrorist or foreign military attack.
Woolsey, who was CIA director from 1993 to 1995 under then-President Bill Clinton, spoke Monday during a House legislative working group meeting about the threat of electromagnetic pulse weapons that could destroy key components and cause long-term blackouts.
Such weapons, he said, could be delivered by any nation with a nuclear arsenal and intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities. Computers, telephones and other devices with computer chips, including cars, could be knocked out of use along with transformers that maintain the electricity grid.
“Knocking out a big transformer in the electric grid is like knocking out your heart,” Woolsey said. “You can’t really function without it. And the grid can’t function without the extremely high voltage transformer.”
People can get through a few days when power lines or transformers are knocked out by storms, Woolsey said. The loss of power for weeks or months, however, would be difficult for most people and society to withstand, leading to a massive loss of life and return to 19th century technologies and living standards.
He spoke via telephone to the meeting hosted by Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda, a Democrat from Tallahassee, and Rep. Ray Pilon, a Republican from Sarasota. Rep. Lake Ray, a Republican from Jacksonville, also attended and asked questions.
Bryan Koon, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, spoke and said the state “has the beginnings of a structure in place to deal with this” and that the threat should be reviewed.
He added, though, that he has a difficult enough time engaging the public in planning for loss of power during hurricanes and thunderstorms much less the threat of an electromagnetic pulse attack.
“Trying to get them to understand the consequence of something they cannot visualize, that they have not experienced in their lifetime or their grandparents did not experience in their lifetime, is an even greater challenge and one which we will have to be overcome to generate the support fro the kinds of things we have discussed here today,” Koon said.
Woolsey spoke to a House panel in 2009 about the need to boost renewable energy use and decentralize the energy system to reduce its vulnerability to storms or attacks.
On Monday, he said starting to protect the electric grid would cost $2 billion.
“We need to start fast because we are at risk,” Woolsey said.
Peter Pry, executive director of the Task Force on National and Homeland Security, and Frank J. Gaffney Jr., president and CEO of the Center for Security Policy, said after the meeting that the governor could issue executive orders to strengthen the electricity grid.
“Every other state will do it — no doubt about it,” Gaffney said. “But there is one that is going to lead. Our view is: Let it be Florida.”
Rehwinkel Vasilinda has filed HB 1251, a memorial urging the president and Congress to take steps to protect against impacts of serious electromagnetic pulse threats and geomagnetic storms. The bill is likely dead, though, because it hasn’t been heard in a committee. In 2014, she signed a letter with national defense experts urging Gov. Rick Scott to take action.
Bruce Ritchie (@bruceritchie) covers environment, energy and growth management in Tallahassee.
