Posted on 05/12/2021 7:48:31 AM PDT by blam
Gas stations from Florida to Virginia ran dry, and prices at the pump skyrocketed late Tuesday, as the hack attack on the biggest U.S. fuel pipeline extends into the fifth day.
On Tuesday evening, 17 states and Washington, DC declared emergency declarations to address fuel shortages.
The emergency declaration covers Alabama, Arkansas, D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.
The Biden administration projected that the Colonial Pipeline would restart by the weekend and urged drivers not to panic hoard fuel.
“We are asking people not to hoard,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told reporters at the White House. “Things will be back to normal soon.”
Colonial has said progress is being made and expects to restart a large portion of the pipeline later this week into the weekend.
“Markets experiencing supply constraints and/or not serviced by other fuel delivery systems are being prioritized,” Colonial said in a statement.
Colonial Pipeline
A ransomware attack on Colonial last Friday underscores the vulnerability of critical U.S. infrastructure to cyberattacks, which has already resulted in people across the Southeast panic hoarding fuel.
Tracking firm GasBuddy reported widespread shortages of fuel at gas stations across southeastern states. For instance, it said 40% of filling stations across the Atlanta metro area without fuel.
GasBuddy shares fuel shortage data of other metros: ◾71% of stations in metro Charlotte are without gasoline.
◾Over 61% of Wilmington, NC gas stations are without gasoline.
◾72% of gas stations in metro Raleigh are without gasoline.
◾37% of Myrtle Beach gas stations are without gasoline.
◾Nearly 60% of stations in Norfolk are without gasoline.
◾Nearly 60% of gas stations in metro Atlanta are without gasoline, but that number has held steady since 1am or so.
◾Amongst AL, GA, FL, SC, NC, MD and VA, nearly 1,800 stations are currently out of gasoline.
As of midnight, GasBuddy shows the percentage of filling stations in each state without gasoline. ◾GA 15.4%
◾AL 1.8%
◾TN 2.8%
◾SC 13.4%
◾NC 24.8%
◾FL 4.2%
◾VA 15.0%
◾MD 3.5%
To mitigate even more shortages, the Biden administration said Tuesday it has started mulling over the idea of a temporary waiver of the Jones Act, a U.S. shipping law, to offset shortages.
The Environmental Protection Agency also issued an emergency fuel waiver on Tuesday for refiners to reformulate gasoline in the Mid-Atlantic area. The waiver extends through May 18 for fuel sold in Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
The attack on Colonial “is potentially the most substantial and damaging attack on U.S. critical infrastructure ever,” Ohio Senator Rob Portman told a Senate hearing on cybersecurity threats on Tuesday.
The FBI accused hack group DarkSide of the ransomware attack. The narrative already being spun is that the group is Russian or Eastern Europe. Besides Colonial, the hackers launched attacks on 24 other companies in various industries.
Colonial Pipeline told federal officials it would have a better idea when it will restart gasoline and diesel flows by late Wednesday. Let’s hope it’s by the end of this week or, at the latest, this weekend – because if shortages continue – people will get angry. Remember what happened when stores ran out of toilet paper during the pandemic?
Things you don't ever want to hear from a government official. The NYT says this isn't happening and the politburo is blaming somebody else. This is the new normal.
Bold, decisive action once again!
This lame excuse reminds me of a book titled "Wooden Nickels, or the Decline and Fall of Silver Coins" by William F. Rickenbacker.
He lays out the whole charade as silver disappeared from circulation and the govt. blamed it on "silver hoarders".
In reality, foreign governments could still convert U.S. Dollars into gold. France's DeGaulle took one look at LBJ's spending binge and started converting. The Fed panicked and said they would pay the equivalent in silver and started retiring silver certificates and withdrawing/melting down whatever coins they could lay their hands on.
The govt hadn't fully ramped up the cupro-nickle coins then, so when the silver coinage disappeared, "hoarders" were blamed.
The Birds - gas station scene
https://youtu.be/CU3RdE5yGFk?t=31
Agree with all if what you said. And I think you’re right...Lenin.
In any case, I think this nation needs to feel some serious hardship before it understands what supporting these leftist and globalist idiots produces.
Until the suffer some true hardship, they won’t ask the hard questions.
No pain, no gain.
I remember that scene!
Since the War on Americans began by biden’s selection one wonders how much longer democrats and rinos will allow the electric grid to remain operational ?
Someone local in our rural area asked “how will we get to town to get supplies”. My answer was why go in the first place? There will not be any supplies to go get. Better just hunker down and eat canned food, beans and rice, we are now in a full blown SHTF survival situation.
So many are not ready for what is to come soon, let alone understand the full scope of the real situation. If you don’t need to go anywhere then DON’T.
I feel sorry for my fellow red staters like AL and miss and TN.
The blue states can go to hell for voting in a pipeline killer.
We’ve got it all - refineries production biggest pipeline hub in the country and NO state of emergency. 👍🏻
I’ve heard it put by others that stocking up prior to an event is prepping but stocking up during an event is hoarding.
Sheesh.
I wouldn’t call it hoarding, but maybe just reacting. I prefer to be proactive (when supply is plenty and prices aren’t ridiculous!) 🙂
We’ve got it all - refineries production biggest pipeline
hub in the country and NO state of emergency.
***********
I agree. But the one catch in what happen was a cyber attack.
And that becomes one of the biggest security problems we have
around the world. If they can get into your system/network then
they can do many upsetting things to the company and the world.
What would a liberal know of a southerner except silly stereotypes?
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