The Energy Sector Paper

One of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) most important missions is protecting critical infrastructure. Assessing CI vulnerabilities is critical to strengthening their capabilities and ensuring resiliency. Since most of them are privately owned, the Department partners with the private sector in conducting voluntary, non-regulatory vulnerability assessments (“Critical Infrastructure”, 2015). According to Homeland Security (2015), vulnerability assessments are the foundation National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) which outlines how the government and the private sector work together to manage risks to achieve security and resiliency goals (“Critical Infrastructure”, 2015). Protecting America’s electrical power grid is especially complicated because all of the other CIs depend on the energy sector’s

A critical infrastructure is defined as any facility, system, or function which provides the foundation for national security, governance, economic vitality, reputation, and way of life. (http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/NIPP_InfoSharing.pdf)In short, critical infrastructure is by definition essential for the survival of the nation. The USA PATRIOT Act specifically defines critical infrastructure as "systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, (Jena Baker McNeill and Richard Weitz, 2010) so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating

The DHS plan, or the National Plan, espouses awareness of the risk environment. Awareness is the first step to mitigation of threats. Once identified according to the plan, risk mitigation is then moved into the realm of best practices and policy. The National Plan references PPD-21, Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience, issued in February of 2013. This directive is the explicit call for the National Plan. Also issued was Executive Order 13636: Critical infrastructure Cybersecurity that calls for the coordination between critical infrastructure owners and the Federal Government. These coordinated efforts to secure national infrastructure fall in line with PPD-8, National Preparedness. Governmental support of public and privately owned infrastructure products

To improve our readiness to combat and battle these threats. In Seattle,there are secure fiber networks being put together to interlink the government and emergency operations. Not only Seattle but many other cities and countries have invested local funds in creating new 911 centers and emergency operation ceters. Worried about these attacks and threats the United States have “hardened” the control networks that manage electricity and water grids. The entire field of cyber security and information technology has a new way of confronting not only terrorist threats but all of the ongoing issues created by hackers and identity thieves. Knowing if America is safer now than in 2001, especially since Bin Laden's death ,the United States will not know. But in not knowing, where, how, or when a threat could be more than just that the United States has become more vigilant and more prepared (Proud To

“For too long, we’ve been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry. President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule. Lifting these restrictions will greatly help American workers, increasing wages by more than $30 billion over the next

Since the September 11, 2001 events, the United States of America gravitated towards a more aggressive approach in its security. The result of the tragic events was the establishment of homeland security. The White House, the federal government and the Congress joined together to establish it. On September 20, 2001, President George W. Bush issued an executive order 13228 to establish an Office of Homeland Security within the White House and assigning the Governor of Pennsylvania, Tom Ridge as its Director (Bullock, Haddow, & Coppola, 2013, p. 4). Ever since, the United States (U.S.) Department of Homeland Security diversified and evolved the way it is today. The Homeland Defense was also integrated into Homeland Security to protect the U.S. soil and its territories. However, what are Homeland Security and Homeland Defense? This paper will address those question as well as covering their missions/goals, tasks, duties, and responsibilities. In addition, a section of this paper is the assessment of the critical infrastructure protection programs of the U.S. The assessment will also include the overall capability of the nation’s critical infrastructure protection program to ensure the survivability of its critical infrastructure.

When it comes to the protection and mitigating of any structure or organization risk analysis and vulnerability assessments must be conducts so as to know what’s to be protected, the threats manmade or natural disaster, ranking the potential of threat as well as the probability. In terms of critical infrastructure the risk analysis and vulnerability assessment has guidelines from Homeland Security Presidential Directive Number 7(HSPD-7).

An executive order issued by President George W. Bush on October 16, 2001 established the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. The Board was created with the goals of coordinating “cooperation with and protection of private sector critical infrastructure, state and local governments critical infrastructure, and supporting programs in corporate and academic organization; protection of federal departments and agencies critical infrastructure; and related national security programs” (The White House).

To combat these major issues and maintain all critical infrastructure safety, the Government of the United States mandated that risk analysis methods and scenarios be introduced and implemented. Before 9/11, many assets

The tragic events of September 11, 2001 highlighted the vulnerability to terrorist attacks. The importance of critical infrastructures to the government, people, and organization can be dependent on the vulnerability towards a national disasters, manmade hazards, and terrorist attack. Contemporary standard of what constitutes critical infrastructures has evolved as a wide array of threats has increased in modern times. Critical infrastructures represent aspects of the economy that makes the nation function as a whole and protecting America’s critical infrastructures and key assets presents an enormous challenge to the Department of Homeland Security.

Presidential Policy Directive 21 (PPD-21): Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience outlines the 16 most critical infrastructures within the United States of America. The 16 critical infrastructures are the Chemical Sector, Commercial Facilities Sector, Communications Sector, Critical Manufacturing Sector, Dams Sector, Defense Industrial Base Sector, Emergency Services Sector, Energy Sector, Financial Services Sector, Food and Agriculture Sector, Government Facilities Sector, Healthcare Sector, Information Technology Sector, Nuclear Sector, Transportation System Sector, and Water and Wastewater Sector. The research paper will briefly cover the 16 critical infrastructures within PPD-21 and then delve into the Energy Sector. The intent

With the Protected Critical Infrastructure Information (PCII) Program, it improves the sharing information voluntarily between owners of infrastructure, operators, and the government. However, with The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) along with Federal, tribal, state, and local analysts, they use the (PCII) program to analyze, identify vulnerabilities, enhances recovery preparedness of measures, develop risk assessments, secure critical infrastructure and protect systems (dhs.gov). The (PCII) also provides information that authorizes a level of protection made easier for DHS to work directly to identify mitigation strategies, vulnerabilities with the infrastructure owners and operators. With the (PCII) protection plan, it increases the

DHS is tasked with creating a national infrastructure protection plan for all critical infrastructure in the country. The plan is designed to ensure critical infrastructure is safe, secure and reliable enough to prevent, withstand or neutralize deliberate efforts by terrorist to exploit or destroy the power grid (Li et al., 2012). The plan also details procedures for strengthening national preparedness as well as providing timely responses to cyber-attacks. The goal of DHS is to ensure the power grid employs static methods in its operations that allow it to quickly respond and recover from a catastrophic event (Kuder et al., 2010).

The Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience advances a national unity of effort to strengthen and maintain secure, functioning, and resilient critical infrastructure (The White House Office of the Press Secretary, February 2013). It is imperative for every nation to develop a critical infrastructure protection plan that will provide the essential services to its society. To archive this, a government must be proactive and coordinate its efforts that will reinforce and maintain secure, functioning, and

The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization, an international energy forum under the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) . Established in 1974, the IEA was developed by major oil-consuming nations as a response to the 1973-74 oil crisis, initially designed to help the country members coordinate a collective response to major oil supply disruptions – a role that continues to be fulfilled to this very day. Over time the IEA has evolved and expanded and its current mandate includes: tracking and analyzing global key energy trends, promoting sound energy policy, and fostering multinational energy technology cooperation (“International Energy Agency”). This history research essay will explore the events leading to the establishment of the International Energy Agency, delve deeper into 1973-1974 oil crisis to which the oil-dependent countries responded by creating the organisation, examine its history and identify its current objectives.