Although the country is less reliant on imported oil than in the past, pipelines and power infrastructures are vulnerable to cyber assaults and bad weather. Houston, Texas – President Richard Nixon vowed an endeavor that would add to the spirit of the Apollo programme and the determination of the Manhattan Project when OPEC banned oil exports to the United States in 1973, resulting in long gasoline queues. In a broadcast address, he stated, “By the end of this decade, we will have established the ability to supply our energy needs without relying on any foreign energy sources.”
Their time had come to an end – it had taken more than 40 years – but due to rising domestic shale oil and natural gas production, as well as the use of solar and wind power, the country had gotten very close to energy independence in recent years. That liberty, though, is in jeopardy. Cars queued up at petrol stations in the southeast last week after a cyber-attack by a criminal organization seeking ransom halted the colonial pipeline. Climate change is also putting extra strain on the electrical grid. A heat wave in California and a harsh freeze in Texas triggered rolling blackouts in the past year, when demand outstripped supply.
“Eight presidents sought energy independence, and now that we have it, we have greater freedom in terms of the global oil market,” said Daniel Yergin, energy historian and author of “Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.” “However, whether you’re talking about pipelines or power, flexibility is still a question of how the system operates under stress.” The colonial pipeline was disrupted for no reason related to the Middle East instability or insufficient US energy supply. Still, according to the AAA, ordinary gasoline prices at the pump in certain places climbed by 20 cents a gallon in a matter of days, and panic has been rare in decades.
Drivers who waited up at the stations to fill gas cans and even plastic bags, according to Mr. Yergin, exacerbated the issue. During the oil shock of the 1960s, the instinct to hoard echoed throughout the country, as if it had touched a chord in the national psyche. Colonial Pipeline, a private enterprise, reopened for business over the weekend, but many gas stations would take at least a few more days to reopen. Governments and investors will put more pressure on energy companies to improve their defenses against cyber-attacks, but those and other flaws will be difficult to overcome, especially after years of low investment.
There are some simple fixes for vulnerabilities demonstrated by heat waves and freezing temperatures in the California and Texas grids, which cost billions of dollars in both states and resulted in the deaths of dozens of people and the displacement of thousands. The country’s two most populous states were demoralized, implying that power plants and transmission systems are unprepared for major weather events, which climate experts predict will occur in the coming years. As a result of the accumulation of gases, warming will become more common.
