State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States.
House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government.
The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier.
Casper Tribune: Wyoming House advances doomsday bill
This may sound like wingnut survivalist paranoia, but this is pretty interesting. Much of the state quite vulnerable to system shocks. Services ranging from food shipping to postal mail processing depend on out of state resources. The state is extremely petroleum dependent, so gas shortages would hit people hard. I’ve been told that although Wyoming produces huge amounts of coal, but is highly dependent on out of state resources for electricity (but I’m not sure that’s true).
Have any other states proposed official bills for state resilience?
See also: Resilient communities with Jeremy O’Leary – the Technoccult Interview
Update: This has already been shot down.
February 26, 2012 at 3:48 pm
Have any other states proposed official bills for state resilience?
Here’s some information on how Portland has done it in the past…
Civil Defense Underground Headquarters: “In 1956, Portland became the first city in the United States to build an underground city hall, the Civil Defense Emergency Operation Center, at Kelly Butte, six and a half miles southeast of the city. It was intended to house 250 emergency coordinators for two weeks. From the underground, they could direct city and emergency services in the event of a nuclear war. It was protected from nuclear fallout by twenty-six inch walls of reinforced concrete, buried ten to thirty feet below the hillside.”
Civil Defense in Portland 1936-1963: “Between the first and second world wars, Portland responded to the potential threat of air strikes by developing a Civil Defense program. Volunteer firefighters were trained and citizens were taught a variety of survival methods from seeking shelter to sealing windows against gas attacks.”
A Day Called X: “A Day Called X is a dramatized CBS documentary film set in Portland, Oregon, in which the entire city is evacuated in anticipation of a nuclear air raid, after Soviet bombers had been detected by radar stations to the north; it details the activation of the city’s civil defense protocols and leads up to the moment before the attack (the ending is left intentionally unknown). It was filmed in September 1957 and aired December 8 of that year.” A Day Called X documents “Operation Green Light,” which emptied downtown and evacuated 100,000+ people in less than an hour. The link leads to the video.
Common sense? Civic responsibility? Paranoia? Security theater? All of the above. When I arrived in Portland in 1992 there were still some rusted civil defense signs downtown. I think they’re gone now. Good luck, everybody.
February 27, 2012 at 12:01 pm
Exactly where would Wyoming put its aircraft carrier?