Remember when, not so long ago, much of the Mainstream Media was mocking people who stocked up on emergency supplies ("preppers") in case of a catastrophe as a bunch of "rightwing" survivalist kooks wearing tinfoil hats? Well, it now appears that Ted Koppel is wearing a tinfoil hat because he is warning about a possible apocalyptic catastrophe that could knock out the nation's power grid for up to two years and is recommending that people stock up on emergency supplies.
Such recommendations are made in his recently published book, Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath. We shall get to Ted Koppel, survivalist, but first let us examine the mockery such people were subjected to in the MSM as exemplified by this March 2012 New York Times article by Neil Genzlinger:
Last month the National Geographic Channel introduced “Doomsday Preppers,” a Tuesday-night reality series about people who are stockpiling, arming and otherwise preparing for some kind of apocalypse. Last week it was the Discovery Channel’s turn. Its new “Doomsday Bunkers,” on Wednesday nights, is about Deep Earth Bunker, a company that builds underground getaways for the types of people seen in “Doomsday Preppers.”
Watch either show for a short while and, unless you’re a prepper yourself, you might be moderately amused at the absurd excess on display and at what an easy target the prepper worldview is for ridicule. Watch a bit longer, though, and amusement may give way to annoyance at how offensively anti-life these shows are, full of contempt for humankind.
Really, Neil? So will you now ridicule Ted Koppel? Here is an Amazon review of his book which covers both Koppel's "apocalyptic" warning as well as the survivalist preparations he is recommending:
This book is organized into three parts. Part One looks into the vulnerability of our power grids to a catastrophic cyberattack. While a few in the power industry still think our power grids are resilient and well protected, a majority of the experts interviewed by the author concede that someone who has the right skills and knowledge can indeed cause damage to our power grids such that multiple states and their millions of residents can be simultaneously knocked off from the grid for a very long time (a year or longer is possible, depending on, say, how quickly replacements for damaged grid components can be manufactured, etc.).
Part Two poses the following question (my wording, not the author's): What has our government been doing to deal with this possibility of a catastrophic cyberattack on our power grids? Unfortunately, the answer seems to be "Not enough." To be fair, some in the government do know what some of the challenges are, but to date, there is no known coherent "big picture" plan.
Part Three examines the efforts of some communities at becoming self-reliant when it comes to disaster preparedness, the limits of such efforts, and possible takeaways for our government and the rest of the nation. The Mormon community's organizational capability is described in good detail, and there is passing mention of other religious organizations having a similar capability but no additional detail.
So is Ted Koppel taking his own advice from his book about making preparations for an apocalyptic catastrophe? The answer is most definitely "yes" as you can see in this interview of Koppel by Jake Tapper yesterday on CNN's The Lead:
JAKE TAPPER: In the event of one of the grids going down the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Disaster Preparedness Plan recommends that families and individuals have a two to three days supply of food and water, some cash, a few flashlights, a portable radio, and some extra batteries. You are now an expert on this issue. Do you have more than that in your emergency kit?
TED KOPPEL: I do. I mean I must tell you I spent three days in Salt Lake City with the leadership of the Mormon church. The Mormons who have two hundred years worth of experience of dealing with disaster. Of having in effect being driven across the country ending up in Salt Lake City. It wasn't Salt Lake City at the time but ending up settling near a salt lake because Brigham Young figured it was relatively secure, nobody else would want to come there. This is an organization, six million Mormons in this country, an organization that is accustomed to preparing for disaster. We have a lot to learn from them, not the least of which is members of the Mormon church are encouraged to have at least a three to six months supply of food, water, extra cash in order to take care of themselves in the event of a major disaster.
JAKE TAPPER: Do you mind if I ask what you have beyond what FEMA recommends?
KOPPEL: I have just over the last couple of months because of what I learned I purchased freeze dried food, a couple of months worth of freeze dried food for all of my kids, and their kids, we have seven grandchildren, we purchased enough food for all of them. We have plenty of water.and we have plenty of freeze dried food and we have a couple of emergency generators. Even they may turn out to be a problem because you're going to have trouble getting the fuel for emergency generators if you're using diesel. We're on natural gas but natural gas has to be powered through the lines ultimately by pumps...
Exit question for Ted Koppel: Do you have a tin foil hat in your emergency supply for an unprepared New York Times writer when he comes begging for help in case of a catastrophic emergency?
