Why rob banks? “That’s where the money is.”
Why attack energy? That’s what drives the economy.
Gas line during Hurricane Sandy
I had to visit three gas stations today to find enough fuel to run an errand for my child and then get to a meeting.
The East Coast is experiencing the kind of gas shortages today we usually only see during major hurricanes. It also reminds those of us old enough to remember, of the long lines and closed pumps we endured during the Carter-era energy crisis.
A Russia-based criminal enterprise named “DarkSide” launched a cyber attack against the Colonial Pipeline Company that led to a shutdown. The attack was “ransomware,” designed to obstruct operations until the ransom is paid.
The good news is that, despite the attack, there is enough supply to restore normal operations.
The bad news is that demand is running far above normal due to media-fueled panic. As one CFACT board member put it, this is toilet paper 2.0.
The obvious lesson is that we must protect the economy, particularly our energy supply, against cyber attacks.
The more important lesson is to wake up and realize how essential our energy infrastructure is.
The WSJ put it clearly:
This is the world that the climate-change lobby wants. The Biden Administration should be putting money into shoring up cyber vulnerabilities, but instead it’s using the “infrastructure” label to remake the energy economy, squeeze fossil fuels, and make the grid more vulnerable, not less.
President Biden stopped the Keystone XL pipeline. Governor Andrew Cuomo has been blockading all of New England from securing a reliable natural gas supply by refusing to let pipelines pass through New York. This is outrageous, particularly as the wounds are entirely self-inflicted.
America can overcome foreign threats to our energy supply.
Cyber criminals are a menace we can defeat.
Domestic anti-energy zealots pose a far greater threat.