Scientists Had Warned of Weak Power Grid (Bush was warned in November)

[NNN0LHI]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20030815/ap_on_re_us/blackout_delicate_grids

NEW YORK - Scientists and engineers with the National Research Council warned the White House and Congress about the vulnerability of the power grid as recently as November, saying nationwide weaknesses needed to be repaired — and fast.

Little has been done, despite a chorus of experts who've pushed since well before Sept. 11 to fix a grid that's riddled with threadbare links and plagued by chronic shortages.

"The power grid has not gotten much more than important conversations since Sept. 11," said Paul Gilbert, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, which worked on the report for the National Research Council.

The report, "Making the Nation Safer: The Role of Science and Technology in Countering Terrorism," was issued in response to the Sept. 11 attacks, but it noted that the systems were "subject to increased stress even without the threat of terrorism."

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[ILeft]

1. Bush knew... fuses blew..........eom

nt

[aquart]

14. First prize!

[Eat_The_Rich]

22. Bush Knew...Monica blew

I think I drank too much...

[Kathy in Cambridge]

23. I think you typed in the wrong web address

this is http://www.democraticunderground.com/
not (fill-in-the-blank)

[jenk]

2. "I inherited this blackout from the previous administration"

.

[kentuck]

3. The memo was on his desk but....

But he was on Thanksgiving vacation in Crawford...it's not his fault.

[sandnsea]

5. The memo was on his desk but...

he didn't read it. Somebody actually has to put in a speech before he knows anything is going on.

[GreenGreenLimaBean]

17. The memo was on his desk,

but Condi didn't read it. Tenet will take the fall.

[SharonAnn]

29. Well, Bush isn't a "fact checker" so he didn't check the facts.

There, isn't that a good explanation?

[fortyfeetunder]

4. Bush is clueless about technical subjects

This is not the first time I heard that Bush was briefed on scientific issues and had no clue how to react to them. This one is no exception.

[jbfam4]

6. Another warning

Bush didn't heed.

[joeybee12]

7. The report didn't have the word "Niger" in it

So it was immediately tossed out.

[Jacobin]

8. Bush* Doesn't "Do" Policy

He's bored with it. Maybe we can find someone to make a "policy video game" and that would keep his gnat brain entertained long enough to focus on a problem......naaaaah....never mind.

[wellst0nev0ter]

28. You Mean "Bush Isn't A Fact Checker"

Fuggin chimp bastard.

[demnan]

9. Another blunder by our most incompetent "President"

just add this one to the list.

[Semi_subversive]

10. Obviously

It was Clinton's penis!

[Katie]

11. NYT: power failure caused by enron/bush policies

"During the California blackouts of 2001, several members of Congress proposed spending $350 million to improve the nation's transmission system, but the measure was opposed by the Bush administration and was voted down by Congressional Republicans."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/nyregion/15GRID.html?hp

[karlschneider]

24. Which is, at current rates, about 2.4 days worth of the Iraq adventure.

:grr:

[Octafish]

12. It's just another of his ignored wake-up calls.

Legacy admission or insider, how can anyone with degrees from Yale and Harvard be so stupid? From the article:

"Technology should be developed for an intelligent, adaptive power grid," that would be able "to rapidly respond with graceful system failure and rapid power recovery," the report recommended. The report's authors shared their findings and recommendations with the White House and congressional committees last November, Gilbert said.

Sitting in the dark, listening to the news on a tinny radio-hat gimmick, I heard The Little Turd from Crawford say, in his typically irritated-yet-sissyfied fashion, that the blackout was not an act of terrorism. He may be telling the truth, because as head stooge of Terror Inc he would know.

For those who may not have heard, a very good overview from Greg Palast: "Power Outtage Traced to Dim Bulb in White House."

http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=257&row=0

[inthecorneroverhere]

13. Hire our EEs!

The weaknesses in the grid, particularly peaker capacity have been known at least since 1995. Enron and the deregulator crowd manipulated the power in California during the late 1990s to jack up the price and also to push their version of deregulation, which is very dangerous, because it does not promote investment in distribution and transmission infrastructure.

Policy Pete is a dude who writes about the frailty of using natural gas as a sole 'peaker' power source. Natural gas is probably the first fossil fuel to demonstrate the 'Hubbert Peak.'

http://qv3.com/policypete/policypete.htm

Unfortunately, Dem's have been too absorbed in 'critical theory' type criticisms of modalities of generation, such as nuclear, and even wind c.f. the celebrities against wind generation in Mass. Dems would have been much smarter had they adopted an old-style FDRoosevelt approach to imploring for investment in critical infrastructure and hard equipment.

I know of several EE's (electrical engineers) who have been out of work for long periods of time owing to their companies outsourcing work overseas. We need to hire our American engineering talent and put them to work!!! fixing these problems!!!!!

We need to invest in our infrastructure. Private enterprise is responsible for some of this, and the gov't is responsible for a portion. Both need to work together.

[goforit]

15. According to Bush, scientists are uneducated and stupid.

Well Mr. President, what do you have to say?

[meisje]

16. Clinton's penis caused the blackout?

??

[Mari333]

19. Clintons Penis has been blamed by the RW for everything

Its the status quo for them now.

[mike6640]

26. It blocks out the sun

in then thar red states.

[Beetwasher]

18. The DEFINITIVE Article

Lays it all out nice and neat. I'm sending this to everyone I know.

[PurityOfEssence]

20. Hmmm...Faith-Based Utilities? Creation Electronics?

We will listen to any scientist who bolsters our pre-conceived correctness. Sort of like our theory of intelligence gathering.

[0007]

21. Hasta la vista junior

hope you enjoyed your stay.

Now junior will go down as worse than Pervert Hoover. The 31st President of the United States (1929-1933)

[SoCalDem]

25. BUSH KNEW.. Part II

:)

[TrogL]

27. LIHOP

He may very well have let the grid fail on purpose, to justify a tax cut to the rich or a juicy contract to Halliburton or another one of his friends.