the Feds to finally respond,” Paul said.
The original six states had been joined in 2009 by Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. In 2010, the States of Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Louisiana had all inquired about joining. They soon passed the necessary legislation to be admitted by the following year.
At that same time, Arizona, Nevada and the Canadian Province of Alberta had sought admission. Arizona was a problem since it wasn’t contiguous to any other member state. If Nevada joined, that would solve Arizona’s problem, but Nevada balked at the member states policy that only priority facilities would be served with any limited electrical power. Since casinos were way down the list of essential services, Nevada was reluctant to join.
Alberta was assured that in any emergency they would be included, but the member states were reluctant to enter into any international agreement which would assuredly raise strong objections in Washington, D.C. Alberta went ahead and passed all the same requirements as outlined by the ISSC. Manitoba and Saskatchewan soon joined Alberta in a three-province consortium.
By the time of the sun’s attack, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and Florida were the only holdouts in forming a continuous area from the Old South through the Intermountain West that was protected from the CME. Even parts of other states had seen the action being taken by their neighbors and attempted a local solution.
The State of Oregon made no official effort at protecting anything. However, the local county governments of Eastern and Southern Oregon worked with their utilities to strengthen their local power grids. Northern California, always at odds with the powerful legislature in Sacramento, followed the local Oregon counties lead and worked to improve their power grid.
Parts of Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio and Indiana all saw independent local communities working hard to protect their citizens in spite of a lack of foresight by their state governments. Even parts of northern Florida saw local governments work for their own protection.
But the Northeast was ripe for disaster. An area stretching from Minnesota through Michigan, Illinois, New York, Maryland and New England had state governments that put their faith in Federal action. Equally dependent on a Federal response, the West Coast was stymied when the CME hit. All were to feel the full brunt of the EMP.
“I’m afraid that Sid Smith didn’t make it back. His plane was scheduled to fly from New York to Boise on P-Day,” the governor said.
“P-Day?” Paul leaned over to the woman sitting beside him. He forgot her name but knew she had been at these meeting from the beginning.
“Pulse Day. Just our little abbreviation,” she offered.
Paul turned back to the governor’s remarks.
“As you’ll recall, Sid was my Science Advisor and was instrumental in getting many of the protections in place that we have. He will be missed,” the governor said. He bowed his head and everyone joined in a minute of silence. Many people had been killed outright when their planes lost power in flight and had plummeted to the ground. Paul shuddered at the thought.
“Mr. Governor. Might I suggest a top person here that might be willing to fill in until a new science advisor is named,” Ed said. Paul looked at him in surprise. “Dr. John Ewing is an astrophysicist with the University of Oregon, but he grew up in Idaho, so we won’t hold the Oregon thing against him.”
“Dr. Ewing, please come forward. Are you willing to join our advisory group until we find a replacement?” the governor asked.
John walked up to the table. “Governor, whatever needs to be done, I’m at your disposal.” John moved to the spot offered.
“OK, let’s go around the table and everyone give me a five-minute picture of where we’re at,” the governor started.
The first was General
The original six states had been joined in 2009 by Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. In 2010, the States of Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Iowa, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, and Louisiana had all inquired about joining. They soon passed the necessary legislation to be admitted by the following year.
At that same time, Arizona, Nevada and the Canadian Province of Alberta had sought admission. Arizona was a problem since it wasn’t contiguous to any other member state. If Nevada joined, that would solve Arizona’s problem, but Nevada balked at the member states policy that only priority facilities would be served with any limited electrical power. Since casinos were way down the list of essential services, Nevada was reluctant to join.
Alberta was assured that in any emergency they would be included, but the member states were reluctant to enter into any international agreement which would assuredly raise strong objections in Washington, D.C. Alberta went ahead and passed all the same requirements as outlined by the ISSC. Manitoba and Saskatchewan soon joined Alberta in a three-province consortium.
By the time of the sun’s attack, Colorado, New Mexico, Virginia and Florida were the only holdouts in forming a continuous area from the Old South through the Intermountain West that was protected from the CME. Even parts of other states had seen the action being taken by their neighbors and attempted a local solution.
The State of Oregon made no official effort at protecting anything. However, the local county governments of Eastern and Southern Oregon worked with their utilities to strengthen their local power grids. Northern California, always at odds with the powerful legislature in Sacramento, followed the local Oregon counties lead and worked to improve their power grid.
Parts of Virginia, New Mexico, Colorado, Ohio and Indiana all saw independent local communities working hard to protect their citizens in spite of a lack of foresight by their state governments. Even parts of northern Florida saw local governments work for their own protection.
But the Northeast was ripe for disaster. An area stretching from Minnesota through Michigan, Illinois, New York, Maryland and New England had state governments that put their faith in Federal action. Equally dependent on a Federal response, the West Coast was stymied when the CME hit. All were to feel the full brunt of the EMP.
“I’m afraid that Sid Smith didn’t make it back. His plane was scheduled to fly from New York to Boise on P-Day,” the governor said.
“P-Day?” Paul leaned over to the woman sitting beside him. He forgot her name but knew she had been at these meeting from the beginning.
“Pulse Day. Just our little abbreviation,” she offered.
Paul turned back to the governor’s remarks.
“As you’ll recall, Sid was my Science Advisor and was instrumental in getting many of the protections in place that we have. He will be missed,” the governor said. He bowed his head and everyone joined in a minute of silence. Many people had been killed outright when their planes lost power in flight and had plummeted to the ground. Paul shuddered at the thought.
“Mr. Governor. Might I suggest a top person here that might be willing to fill in until a new science advisor is named,” Ed said. Paul looked at him in surprise. “Dr. John Ewing is an astrophysicist with the University of Oregon, but he grew up in Idaho, so we won’t hold the Oregon thing against him.”
“Dr. Ewing, please come forward. Are you willing to join our advisory group until we find a replacement?” the governor asked.
John walked up to the table. “Governor, whatever needs to be done, I’m at your disposal.” John moved to the spot offered.
“OK, let’s go around the table and everyone give me a five-minute picture of where we’re at,” the governor started.
The first was General
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