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That's not quite the conclusion drawn by your own government's EMP commission:

Several potential adversaries have or can acquire the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP). A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication.

A readable fictionalisation of such an event can be read in "One Second After"

Now, if all you're saying is that there are more pressing things to worry about, then sure. There always are. But an EMP strike is unfortunately well within the means of a fairly unsophisticated attacker and could be made in a deniable fashion. (That won't help you much, as the US is not above attacking whole countries for unrelated reasons, (cough) Iraq (cough)). Like with many things security wise, we're "safe" from it, not so much because the attack is impossible or unfeasible, but rather that there aren't enough crazies around with the capability at hand. Capabilities tend to increase as time goes by though, and crazy doesn't seem to decrease, unfortunately.

Its the EMP Commision report. Go read it if you want to know. Its an interesting report. The only cars that were disabled were the ones running. It doesn't specifically say why but its a good guess that the added EMP plus the running current in the ignition fried ignition coils. Replace coil and good to go.
br? The other thing to keep in mind is that a Carrington level solar event will be thousands of orders of magnitude more powerful and more energetic than all the nuclear bombs on the planet combined. That should be the real worry; people really are insignificant compared to nature.

They are correct, we do need to take step to prevent impact from a massive EMP from a solar burst. IT need to be part of a larger revamping of the system. DEsigned by engineers, and not by congress.

Interesting red. if you like dry technical topics:
http://www.empcommission.org/d...

And why would trucks stop coming into the city?
Oh, right becasue idiots think an EMP would stop most vehicles from running.
Next time you tin foil hat friends mention it, be sure to inform them that only 3% would ahve any effect at all, and only a smalle number of those would lead to a situation where a crash could occur.

So, basically, we would be in 1910 for about a month, then 1920, within a year everyone would have power again.

Would people die? yes/ Would civilization collapse? no. The internet would be running at some capacity through the whole thing.

The biggest risk is that all these ignorant survivalist cause people to panic becasue of all the FUD that have been spreading.

http://www.empcommission.org/d...

Of course, this also mean it would need to be strong enough to impact that entire continent; which one could be, coming form the Sun.

Did you read your own article? Try page 113 where it says:
"An EMP attack will certainly, immediately disable a portion of the 130 million cars and 90 million trucks in operation in the United States. Vehicles disabled while operating on the road can be expected to cause accidents. With modern traffic patterns, even a small number of disabled vehicles or accidents can cause debilitating traffic jams."

What about page 115 with "The ultimate result of EMP expoure could be triggered crashes that damage many more vehicles than are damaged by eMP, the consequent loss of life, and multiple injuries.

EMP has little to know impact on vehicles.

http://www.empcommission.org/d...

Stop, and I repeat STOP! getting you information form survivalist shows and movies. It's almost always wrong.

EMP has little to know impact on vehicles.

http://www.empcommission.org/d...

Stop, and I repeat STOP! getting you information form survivalist shows and movies. It's almost always wrong.

As Mr Nimzicki once said "Uh Mr. President. Thats not entirely accurate"

Please read the EMP commission report. http://www.empcommission.org/

What? You mean I didn't read the following correctly?

EMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. EMP will cover the wide geographic region within line of sight to the nuclear weapon. It has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures and thus to the very fabric of US society, as well as to the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power.

The common element that can produce such an impact from EMP is primarily electronics, so pervasive in all aspects of our society and military, coupled through critical infrastructures. Our vulnerability is increasing daily as our use of and dependence on electronics continues to grow. The impact of EMP is asymmetric in relation to potential protagonists who are not as dependent on modern electronics.

The current vulnerability of our critical infrastructures can both invite and reward attack if not corrected. Correction is feasible and well within the Nation's means and resources to accomplish.

From the Executive report Abstract

Don't think that being disconnected from the grid would not mean you are safe. Anything with even a few feet of wire hanging onto it would be subject to serious damage. Most consumer electronics, including cars, cell phones, radios and TVs would likely be damaged beyond repair. Your solar powered home will be as dark as everybody else and those of you with local generators are unlikely to be in much better shape. You will literally find yourself back in horse and buggy days, only with very few horses to be had. Few cars would be running, mostly old ones with old ignition systems and mechanical fuel pumps

As Mr Nimzicki once said "Uh Mr. President. Thats not entirely accurate"

Please read the EMP commission report. http://www.empcommission.org/

Your car is already an electromechanical device. EMP would disable modern gasoline vehicles just as surely as it would electric vehicles.

This is a myth.

http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf

This is why I started with the joke "doesn't anyone read the Congressional reports...?"

Lessee.... http://www.empcommission.org/docs/empc_exec_rpt.pdf ? The first two paragraphs, especially the second beginning with "a single nuclear weapon exploded at high altitude above the United States..." should do.

A large number of solid state systems have already been tested to survive EMP, there ways to protect against EMP and ways to repair systems damaged by EMP.

http://www.empcommission.org/docs/empc_exec_rpt.pdf

An EMP isn't going to destroy civilization, hell 20 won't.

EMP isn't going to do anything to optical disks and the effects of EMP is often exaggerated in the media.

A few strategically scattered EMPs are not going to destroy all magnetic media and even if it were to destroy 99.999% of civilian data there are still terabytes and terabytes of national archives, corporate archives, and backups in secure, hardened sites and facilities in the United States and Canada. EMPs across North America to destroy the heartland of the US and Canada won't effect Hawaii, Guam, data on warships/submarines, Okinawa, Diego Garcia, Alaska, the South Pole, US corporations and embassies overseas.

"An EMP would probably not erase data stored on magnetic tape."

http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf

In the program Future Weapons: EMP Bomb

Pure info-tainment. Like those TV people that strap bombs to the gas tank of cars to make better explosion videos, or those TV people that rig tires to detonate to make the SUV flip. Try a real information source summarizing results from real scientific experiments like:

http://www.empcommission.org/

Then check out the "Critical National Infrastructures Report"

Look for this around page 115. The idea that some cars stalling, coasting to a stop, and needing to be restarted will create a crisis is fairly unbelievable from the perspective of a daily rush hour driver like myself whom is used to crazy stop and go traffic, but I guess that was the most terrifying scenario they could produce, so they had to run with what they had.

We tested a sample of 37 cars in an EMP simulation laboratory, with automobile vintages
ranging from 1986 through 2002. Automobiles of these vintages include extensive
electronics and represent a significant fraction of automobiles on the road today. The
testing was conducted by exposing running and nonrunning automobiles to sequentially
increasing EMP field intensities. If anomalous response (either temporary or permanent)
was observed, the testing of that particular automobile was stopped. If no anomalous
response was observed, the testing was continued up to the field intensity limits of the
simulation capability (approximately 50 kV/m).

Automobiles were subjected to EMP environments under both engine turned off and
engine turned on conditions. No effects were subsequently observed in those automobiles
that were not turned on during EMP exposure. The most serious effect observed on running
automobiles was that the motors in three cars stopped at field strengths of approximately
30 kV/m or above. In an actual EMP exposure, these vehicles would glide to a
stop and require the driver to restart them. Electronics in the dashboard of one automobile
were damaged and required repair. Other effects were relatively minor. Twenty-five
automobiles exhibited malfunctions that could be considered only a nuisance (e.g.,
blinking dashboard lights) and did not require driver intervention to correct. Eight of the
37 cars tested did not exhibit any anomalous response.

Based on these test results, we expect few automobile effects at EMP field levels below
25 kV/m. Approximately 10 percent or more of the automobiles exposed to higher field
levels may experience serious EMP effects, including engine stall, that require driver
intervention to correct. We further expect that at least two out of three automobiles on the
road will manifest some nuisance response at these higher field levels. The serious malfunctions
could trigger car crashes on U.S. highways; the nuisance malfunctions could
exacerbate this condition. The ultimate result of automobile EMP exposure could be triggered
crashes that damage many more vehicles than are damaged by the EMP, the consequent
loss of life, and multiple injuries.

The potential EMP vulnerability of automobiles derives from the use of built-in electronics that support multiple automotive functions. Electronic components were first introduced into automobiles in the late 1960s. As time passed and electronics technologies evolved, electronic applications in automobiles proliferated. Modern automobiles have as many as 100 microprocessors that control virtually all functions. While electronic applications have proliferated within automobiles, so too have application standards and electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility (EMI/EMC) practices. Thus, while it might be expected that increased EMP vulnerability would accompany the proliferated electronics applications, this trend, at least in part, is mitigated by the increased application of EMI/EMC practices. We tested a sample of 37 cars in an EMP simulation laboratory, with automobile vintages ranging from 1986 through 2002. Automobiles of these vintages include extensive electronics and represent a significant fraction of automobiles on the road today. The testing was conducted by exposing running and nonrunning automobiles to sequentially increasing EMP field intensities. If anomalous response (either temporary or permanent) was observed, the testing of that particular automobile was stopped. If no anomalous response was observed, the testing was continued up to the field intensity limits of the simulation capability (approximately 50 kV/m). Automobiles were subjected to EMP environments under both engine turned off and engine turned on conditions. No effects were subsequently observed in those automobiles that were not turned on during EMP exposure. The most serious effect observed on running automobiles was that the motors in three cars stopped at field strengths of approximately 30 kV/m or above. In an actual EMP exposure, these vehicles would glide to a stop and require the driver to restart them. Electronics in the dashboard of one automobile were damaged and required repair. Other effects were relatively minor. Twenty-five automobiles exhibited malfunctions that could be considered only a nuisance (e.g., blinking dashboard lights) and did not require driver intervention to correct. Eight of the 37 cars tested did not exhibit any anomalous response.

If cars are this susceptible to microwave energy, then Iran will shortly have the ability to shut down much of our country, in an instant.

Exo-atmospheric nuclear EMP is easy to generate if you have a nuke (even a small one, although the area affected would be somewhat less) and can put it in a low orbit satellite. Iran has the latter (and is about to launch a couple more) and will soon have the former. Their nukes can be small (they have implosion technology).

They have also been testing an alternate delivery system - a SCUD launch with the warhead detected at the top of the trajectory - EMP is the only explanation for such tests.

So, if they are nutty enough (and do you want to bet your survival on the sanity of President ImANutJob?), they can kill tens of millions of Americans, with no warning at all. They can orbit a nuke in a satellite, to be detonated on command. Or, they could launch a few SCUDs from merchant ships hundreds of miles off our shores.

Imagine a US where a large area (say, 1000mi in diameter) suddenly has a destroyed electrical transmissions system,almost all telecoms down, and almost all vehicles unusable. It's not a pretty thought.

See US Gov report at http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf (pdf)