Power Struggles: Grid Attacks and Extremism in an Age of Climate Volatility

A service transformer in Lawrence, Kansas. (David DeHetre, https://flic.kr/p/8ZB2hk; CC BY 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)

A vast maze of transmission wires and power substations crisscrosses the United States, upkept by a patchwork of utilities and regulatory agencies. This labyrinth sustains modern American life, and yet it is perilously vulnerable. Many of the power grid’s physical infirmities date back to its inception, but in recent decades experts and independent assessors have warned of an approaching breaking point, emphasizing how disastrous a coordinated, surgical …

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