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California trucking association supports port security measures
It was unclear for a while whether California trucking association would support background checks on the more 12,000 drivers who come in and out of the sprawling twin ports of Los Anegeles and Long Beach; the trucking association ow say it is for it
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GAO: Security of water treatment facilities below par
Water treatment facilities are inviting targets for terrorists because of the toxic chemicals they use and their proximity to population centers, but the water collection system is also vulnerable, and a recent report says not much has been done to protect it
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Trend: Responsible chemical plants adopt "inherent safer technology" on their own
The chemical industry has resigned itself to some form of federal regulations of safety measures at chemical plants; one of the major goals of industry lobbyists is now to make sure that safety legislation does not mandate plants to replace the most dangerous chemicals they produce or use with inherently safer chemicals; more than 200 plants have already made the switch on their own, showing that it is not economically prohibitive to do so
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Trend: Growing debate over safety of nuclear power plants
Worries about the rising price of oil and the degradation of the environment by fossil fuels have led to renewed interest in nuclear power plants; worries about terrorism, however, cut in the other
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Is San Francisco prepared for the next Big One?
One hundred years ago the earthquake which hit San Francisco killed 3,000, left more than 200,000 homeless, and destroyed more than 28,000 buildings. Is the city ready for the next one?
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Legislation to review foreign ownership of critical infrastructure introduced in New York
Bipartisan legislation proposed to review thoroughly requests by foreign entities who want to control parts of New York’s critical infrastructure
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Chemical company faulted in Georgia chemical release accident
The reckless behavior of a Georgia chemical plant is yet another proof — if one were needed — that “voluntary, industry-developed” chemical plant safety standards are anything but; forget safety measures: The company managers and engineers did not even bother to consult studies in the open literature about the new chemical process they were experimenting with
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Public-private coalition to coordinate security spending at Houston port
An innovative public-private coordination effort of security measures at and around the Port of Houston
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They try harder
Jay Leno said that they found a man in a cave in China whose handwriting was so small, he could put half a chapter of the New Testament on one strand of human hair; but this was only his hobby: His vocation was to write the fine print on rent-a-car contracts; well, Avis Europe hires a U.K. business continuity company to beef up disaster recovery systems in Avis’s Frankfurt, Germany, data center, so all these rent-a-car contracts could survive a disaster
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The meanings of resilience
The meaning of “is”: Many equate “business continuity” with “resilience” — but there are at least four different meanings business people attach to “resilience”; you should address all of them
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Bantu contributes to erosion of inter-service communication barriers
Making the uniformed services talk to each other is no mean feat, but Bantu is trying, offering a secure platform which allows military personnel instantly to locate and communicate across disparate military networks, locations, and computing platforms — and, yes, regardless of service affiliation
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Analysis: Tension between public safety, business interests
Who should supply public goods? Public safety is a public good, and as more of this particular good is sought, and its cost increases, the debate about who should provide it intensifies
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The long view
U.S. contemplates responses to a cyber-Pearl Harbor attack on critical infrastructure
Cybersecurity experts often contemplate how U.S. security agencies would react to a cyber-9/11 or a digital Pearl Harbor, in which a computer attack would unplug the power grid, disable communications lines, empty bank accounts, and result in loss of life. “Ultimately, it absolutely could happen,” says one expert. “Yeah, that thought keeps me up at night, in terms of what portion of our critical infrastructure could be really brought to its knees.”
Protecting the U.S. power grid
The U.S. power grid is made up of complex and expensive system components, which are owned by utilities ranging from small municipalities to large national corporations spanning multiple states. A National Academy of Sciences report estimates that a worst-case geomagnetic storm could have an economic impact of $1 trillion to $2 trillion in the first year, which is twenty times the damage caused by a Katrina-class hurricane.
More than 143 million Americans at risk from earthquakes
More than 143 million Americans living in the forty-eight contiguous states are exposed to potentially damaging ground shaking from earthquakes, with as many as twenty-eight million people in the highest hazard zones likely to experience strong shaking during their lifetime, according to new research. The research puts the average long-term value of building losses from earthquakes at $4.5 billion per year, with roughly 80 percent of losses attributed to California, Oregon, and Washington. By comparison, FEMA estimated in 1994 that seventy-five million Americans in thirty-nine states were at risk from earthquakes. In the highest hazard zones, the researchers identified more than 6,000 fire stations, more than 800 hospitals, and nearly 20,000 public and private schools that may be exposed to strong ground motion from earthquakes.
Coastal communities can lower flood insurance rates by addressing sea-level rise
City leaders and property developers in Tampa Bay are urging coastal communities to prepare today for sea-level rise and future floods in order to keep flood insurance rates low in the future. FEMA, which administers the National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP), is increasing flood insurance premiums across the country, partly to offset losses from recent disasters such as hurricanes Katrina and Sandy. Cities can reduce insurance premiums for nearly all residents who carry flood coverage by improving storm-water drainage, updating building codes to reflect projected rise in sea-levels, moving homes out of potentially hazardous areas, and effectively informing residents about storm danger and evacuation routes.