The Role of Government
The government by itself does not have the manpower to deal with the shelter construction. It will require a massive effort. The building of the shelter complexes must be the responsibility of individuals rather than the government. This is a volunteer force that contributes their resources, talents and labor in exchange for becoming stakeholder in a shelter complex that will provide them a chance at survival. This does not mean that the government does not have a major role to play in this process. Federal, state and local governments can provide the framework for the process to occur.
At the local level, the government will:
At the federal & state level, the government will:
Utilize every available means to mitigate the treat and divert the impact.
Provide accurate information about the impact event including the time of impact, size of comet, impact point, status of mitigation success or failure. Refine impact computations as event gets closer.
Control panic, chaos and civil unrest
Keep the transportation lanes open.
Develop preassigned evacuation routes which optimize use of existing road capacity.
Keep energy distribution on line (electricity, gasoline, gas, etc.)
Close off and secure all underground oil/gas mains prior to impact.
Keep communications on-line. (including the Internet) The government should place telephone traffic in a minimized condition, restricting telephone traffic for emergency planning use only.
Establish a shelter registry.
Coordinate migration of people into local communities.
Maximize the outputs of key industries (i.e. plywood production, fiberglass production, etc.).
Allocate and distribute the reserves held by the government, such as grain stockpiles.
Arrange for the manufacture and distribution of specialized critical resources. The federal and state governments should arrange that critical goods be air dropped to GPS location of registered shelter complexes. Small aircraft can be used to drop small items, such as acetazolamide, dexamethasone, nifedipine. Large military aircraft could be used to transport and parachute heavier loads, such as barrels of granular soda lime or lithium hydroxide. The federal government should also arrange for confiscation and transportation (via rail and truck) of Intermodal Shipping Containers to registered shelter locations.
Construction of specialized Strategic Shelters. (plant and animal species survival, factories and industry)
Establish price controls on key resources. (i.e. corn, wheat, soybeans, plywood, lumber, black plastic, etc.)
It will be very important that the government step in and maximize the output of key industries. For example, the manufacture of fiberglass or of plywood. (One sheet of plywood may equate to one more human life saved.
This concept will require mass migration of people out of cities into the country, out of the coastal areas to inland areas. Transportation lanes (especially rail lines) must be kept free. The government is needed here. In addition to people, the relocation of hundreds of thousands of Intermodal Shipping and Storage Containers from coastal to inland regions will be required.
Not only will scientist be able to roughly predict the final impact point in the last days, but also more importantly, they will have tools to construct dynamic models to simulating the impact with the approaching comet. This tool will be able to predict the magnitude of the impact events stratified by geographical areas.
The construction of this plan was based on utilization of local resources (manpower, equipment, materials). If specialized materials are required in implementing this plan (i.e. granular soda lime or lithium hydroxide for CO2 scrubbers), they will have to be supplied and distributed by the government to the shelter complexes.
The impact from a large comet will ignite tens of thousands of oil and gas fires at the well heads of underground reservoirs and reserves, unless they are secured. To visualize the effect, remember Kuwait at the end of the war with Iraq. The fleeing Iraqis ignited thousand of oil wells sending up clouds of black smoke plunging the country into darkness. The impact of a comet will produce a similar effect, except there will be no one to put these fires out. These unchecked fires will produce poisonous gases; consume oxygen in an oxygen-depleted atmosphere; and lengthen the recovery time by blocking out sunlight. As a result, it is very important to close off and secure these master valves at the well head prior to impact. The pipelines should then be severed and the mains covered with several feet of earth. Typical gas and oil wellheads are depicted in Figure 10 & Figure 11.
A few wells are equipped with automatic master down hole valves. These valves are designed to automatically shut off in the event of an earthquake. This will also protect against large comet impacts.
A similar problem also exists with open pit coalmines. The impact event can ignite the exposed coal and start a fire that will last decades. It would also be important to cover the exposed coal in these mining operations.
Destruction of nuclear power plants resulting from a comet impact has the potential of releasing significant amounts of radiation in the environment. Generally, the highest concentrations of radiation will be localized to the area within 5 miles of the reactor site. The reactor pressure vessel is designed for overpressures from a blast wave in excess of 200 psi. As a result, the reactor vessel may survive the blast wave associated with the impact event. It would be important to take the reactor off-line prior to impact because in this state, reactors are more damage-resistant. 53
Ground shock may shatter dams. Dam reservoirs should be emptied prior to an impact.
In June of 1941, Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Within days the Soviet Union was under a crippling ground and air attack from the Germans. One of the strategic decisions made by the Soviet Union at that time was to relocate 1,500 factories including the workers from the European USSR to the east. This move helped turn the tide of battle. If the United States under the threat of an impending comet impact were to relocate key industries including personnel into protected zones, this move could have a profound impact in bringing us out of the Dark Ages by kick-starting civilization, with the restoration of the industrial age and the electronics age.
I believe much of the shelter construction throughout the United States from the Sierra Nevada to the Appalachian Mountains, is best coordinated at the local level and should be controlled by the stakeholders, the individuals that construct the shelters. I also believe the federal government has a major role to play and that is the advanced planning and construction of unique Strategic Shelter Complexes. The wide belt of mountains and the high plateaus along the western United States will make ideal "safe harbor" areas. A large portion of the land areas comprising the western mountains and plateaus are controlled by the Federal government. I propose the federal government assume the responsibility of the construction of the Strategic Shelter Complexes, and the relocation of key industries and workers from throughout the United States into these complexes. Since the western areas can be arid, dry and almost desert like, water becomes an important issue. I propose these Strategic Shelters be constructed along the great western rivers, the Colorado River and the Snake River.
I also believe the Federal Government should play a role in the construction of specialized shelters for the survival of plant and animal life. This is another type of Strategic Shelter Complex. A major comet impact is an extinction event. It will destroy many species of plants, animals and fish. Mankind can make the greatest impact on the survival of life-forms on this planet by creating a Noah’s Ark in the chaos of an extinction boundary.
The Federal and State Governments could also establish a Shelter Registry Database. This database could be used to direct personnel and needed materials and resources to registered shelter groups. Concept Details
I recommend the creation of a new governmental department, the Department of Planetary Defense.