Cyber Attack Has America on its Knees

"Oil Refinery at Dawn" by Iguanasan is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

A total of four states have now declared a state of emergency in the now increasingly devastating cyberattack that has crippled the Colonial Pipeline and much of the country. Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia have all declared state of emergencies, allowing the national guard to be deployed to assist.

“Florida Governor Ron DeSantis; 2020 Python Bowl press event.” by MyFWC Florida Fish and Wildlife is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis told Sean Hannity that Biden has shrugged in face of this crisis:

“This pipeline actually doesn’t touch Florida, but it does feed into many of our gas stations. So we declared a state of emergency. We’re lifting restrictions to be able to get more fuel in the pumps.”

“The Biden administration needs to take this seriously,” DeSantis said. “Their initial response is, ‘Oh, this is a private pipeline,’ and just shrug their shoulders. This is important infrastructure for our country, and it could impact our economy greatly if they don’t respond.”

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp suspended the gas tax to assist civilians in this crisis. He said on Twitter: “Today I signed an executive order suspending the gas tax in Georgia to help with higher prices as a result of the Colonial cyber attack. We are working closely with Colonial and expect for them to recover by the end of the week.

Politico reported that “The Biden administration is scrambling to” assist states struggling with the gas shortages:

The Biden administration is scrambling to ease the gasoline crunch that is causing scattered shortages and fears of price spikes in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast — one of the most economically and politically worrisome consequences of the cyberattack that shuttered one of the nation’s biggest fuel pipelines.

The moves, including waivers of some environmental and labor rules to ease gasoline shipments, come as the closure of the Colonial Pipeline enters its fifth day, further straining a fuel market approaching its busiest season of the year. Already, industry estimates indicate that about 8 percent of gas stations in Virginia and North Carolina are out of fuel, even if supplies nationwide are ample enough to cope with demand.

Tiffany Wright of AAA Carolinas told CNN that panic buying is partly to blame for the fuel shortages:

“People are taking their entire family fleet of vehicles to the gas station and filing up when they don’t need to. We are our own worst enemy in this situation because we are over-consuming at the pump.”
 
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has begged citizens not to hoard gas during this time:
 
“Let me emphasize that much as there was no cause for say, hoarding toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic, there should be no cause for hoarding gasoline,” Granholm said during Tuesday’s White House press briefing, “especially in light of the fact that the pipeline should be substantially operational by the end of this week and over the weekend.”

 

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