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I think EMP is overrated, the Navy did test cars and trucks made from the mid 1980's to today and although the EMP shut the cars down, almost all the cars will start up again. Some cars/trucks did have some issues where the gauges in the dashboard did not work or were going crazy, but they were still driveable. I'd say your odds of your car starting again will be 90% to 95%. Your transistor radio should still work if the antenna is folded as well. However, I do see where EMP can hurt the power grid, so there goes the ability to pump gas unless you have a generator, a 12 volt pump or a hand pump.

EMP ain't the 800 lbs gorilla they make it out to be, more like a 500 lbs one, although they are right on with the effects to the economy.

"EMP ain't the 800 lbs gorilla they make it out to be, more like a 500 lbs one, although they are right on with the effects to the economy."

In and of itself, EMP may be a 500 lb. gorilla, but do you really think this administration would let a crisis like that go to waste?

I do see where EMP can hurt the power grid, so there goes the ability to pump gas unless you have a generator, a 12 volt pump or a hand pump.

Also, the ability for most communities to pump water. This would create a crisis of immense proportions almost immediately. Shutting done the power gird is akin to shutting down the heart. It will matter little how healthy the rest of the body is at the time of the shutdown--the collective devastating impacts would quickly multiply and spread throughout society. Virtually all the dominoes would fall.

And the 1,000 or so main transformers that form the power grid? We have no replacements sitting in a warehouse, we no longer manufacture them domestically,and they take considerable time to manufacture.

The science is well-proven. Paradoxically, our evolution from robust and primitive vacuum tubes to microelectronic circuitry has made us orders of magnitude MORE susceptible to complete devastation via EMP than we were even 20 or 30 years ago.