Florida declares state of emergency after pipeline shutdown

[mia]

Source: Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Tuesday evening in response to gasoline shortages caused the shutdown of a major pipeline by hackers.

The executive order signed by DeSantis activates the Florida National Guard, as needed, and directs state emergency management officials to work with federal and local officials.

The Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the U.S., delivering about 45% of what is consumed on the East Coast, was hit on Friday with a cyberattack by hackers who lock up computer systems and demand a ransom to release them. A large part of the pipeline resumed operations manually late Monday, and Colonial anticipates restarting most of its operations by the end of the week, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

More than 1,000 gas stations in the Southeast reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/fl-state-wire-florida-business-technology-hacking-3f17b5aab4608e4ca7aa392256cf9f1b

[WHITT]

1. All States Should Declare A 'State Of Emergency'

Under a 'State of Emergency', gas stations, or whoever is selling fuel, CANNOT raise prices unless they can prove the wholesale price of the fuel they are currently selling increased.

[jimfields33]

2. I agree.

How about a law that says gas price can only be changed once a week? It’s crazy that gas prices can be changed every five minutes if a station so desires. I know that’s a bit exaggerated, but it does seem to be the station can change anytime they want.

[twodogsbarking]

3. The internet is safe,

world flat.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. Would be great if they could limit vehicle tank capacity to 2/3.

It would be rationing without hardship, and reduce the mentally desperate. Surely the pressure in a gas tank can be measured. I think that's what shuts off the autofill ratchet.

[mitch96]

5. Ironically I was at a gas station that had relativly low prices and they limited the purchase to

$10... Shades of the made up gas shortage of the '70s... Electric and hybrid cars are looking kinda good now eh? Oh and can I store my toilet paper in my gas can?....
m

[bucolic_frolic]

6. I'd disagree the 70s was made up

We had refining and distribution bottlenecks that contributed to the problem. Yes tankers stalled waiting to offload product, but yes stations were closed several days a week, had reduced hours, and consumers had to plan their trips carefully. There were probably 1/4 as many cars, and few got mileage over 16-18 per gallon. Americans and power and 3 ton vehicles haven't helped our current problem very much.

[mitch96]

9. so if the refineries were chugging along there would be no shortage but they chose to not

refine gas... And the price and their profits went up. That to me is causing the problem that was fixable... My fathers Union (MEBA) wrote a book about the "crisis" and discussed it with the Carters White House at the time.. Full oil tankers just sitting and waiting for the refineries to accept oil... which they didn't..

m

[bucolic_frolic]

10. I'm no expert but there are always issues of storage capacity, transport capacity, and refining

If the throughputs don't match in a system you have bottlenecks. If they can make money from throughput they're not going to prefer the cost of holding inventory and restraining output - capital at that time was not free like it is today. Inputs weren't rare, they would just drill more, so it can't have been a maximize dwindling input problem. Once consumer consumption is choked the system could back up. Somewhere there was a problem.

[mitch96]

13. "Somewhere there was a problem."... yup, greed.. Have you ever noticed that when there is a

fuel problem the prices go up THAT DAY.. with all the old "cheaper" gas in their station tanks. And when the fuel problem goes away the prices come down VERY slowly... Greed or good business practice...?
m

[machoneman]

7. DeSatan blaming all, personally, on President Biden, in 5-4-3-2-1........

Just wait!

[obamanut2012]

8. SOFL has plenty of gas, we filled up before work today

No line. Gas was up almost ten cents from yesterday. I loathe DeSantis, but doing this kicks in anti-price gouging laws, so gas should stay stable.

[Fritz Walter]

11. Looking ahead...

Whatever we do, let's continue and grow our dependence on fossil fuels! Global climate change is a myth! Especially in coastal areas, like Florida!


I really hope President Biden sees this occurance as a catalyst, an opportunity and justification for policy changes on energy, environment, and economy.

There are alternatives!

[The Jungle 1]

12. He just wants some socialist bail out money from Biden.

[mac2766]

14. Ugh!

Idiotic people. I was in town yesterday and saw that people were in line waiting to get gas at one station. I thought it was weird. This morning I read about the "shortages" caused by cyber attacks and am watching CBS This Morning listening to an "expert". It's so ridiculous. Both the people panic buying and the gas companies gouging at the pumps. They've been doing it all spring, now they have another "reason" to further gouge us at the pump.

I'm a long time IT guy. I can tell you from first hand experience that there are ways to avoid this type of attack. If a company was prepared correctly, they would simply dump the infected image and restore from backups made the previous night. Also, they would have a proper email virus filter installed on their system to defend against the attack in the first place. The other thing is education. Why would anyone open an attachment from a suspicious email message today?

My mind is blown. I'm very suspect of this whole thing. I completely believe that it is a staged event by the fuel companies so that they can raise prices.

[TeamProg]

15. How is it that GQP'ers can blame the Biden Admin for not protecting private oil pipelines?

It's as if the GQP is saying "more oversight, please! But don't regulate our leaky pipes and corrupt business practices!"


The real answer is: Republicans are antithetical to accountability.

[DENVERPOPS]

16. Just blowing a kiss

to the oil companies Profits.......You gotta know, he will be hitting up all the Oil Companies for a donation to his next election fund............One can only imagine how much the "hospitality" crowd is donating after he encouraged the spring breaker students to come down and pack Florida's beaches, elbow to elbow, the last two Covid springs.....To say nothing of the tax revenue he collected.

The Bimbo who runs South Dakota isn't dumb, she did the same exact thing in her state, collecting a reported whopping 60 million in additional tax revenue for the state and ten million in tax revenue for the city of Sturgess.

And the best part is....... that both of those governing assholes, then got to send the outrageous mass of people back to their homes across entire nation, before they came down with Covid............

Thirty-forty years ago, there was a huge investigation into price fixing among the oil companies.
Congress wondered how every brand of gas across the nation could change the price, to the same amount, on the exact same morning............
It was a real investigation. They couldn't find anything that showed they concluded.........

Then, it became clear as could be: One company would go public and tell the public two days in advance of their increase and the exact amount they were raising their price.......

My experience in the Corporate world has shown me that this collusion, although illegal, goes on all the time....

For instance: For decades and decades, the CEO's of the major airlines and the CEO's of Airplane Manufacturers fly into the piss ant sized town Saratoga Wyoming one week a year, go to a very very posh dude ranch, supposedly to all go "fly fishing" together.............It is something to see. This tiny airport, basically in the middle of nowhere, with a large mass of Corporate Jets, all scrunched together, wing tip to wing tip covering every square inch of the paved areas.

What do you suppose they are discussing? Their latest personal fly tying techniques? Maybe the best way to nymph fish for Rainbow and Brown Trout on the North Platte River? MEGA LOL..............

[KY_EnviroGuy]

17. Anyone else see it as odd that DeSantis declares an emergency over gasoline but.....

refused to even implement basic rules to prevent people from dying during a global pandemic.

Proves once again that Republicans protect business interests and their personal enrichment alone and nothing more.

KY.........