Power America!

This week, President Obama announced a new “Power Africa” initiative. It offers at least $16 billion in government spending, loan guarantees and private sector investments to help bring electricity to millions of Africans.

Laudable as that initiative appears, the question occurs: If Mr. Obama is promising to turn lights on in what used to be known as “the Dark Continent,” what is his administration doing to ensure that the American people are not blacked out – possibly permanently?

Unfortunately, the U.S. electrical grid is extremely vulnerable to protracted disruption – whether due to enemy action or naturally occurring events. If Mr. Obama has billions and billions of dollars to build a 21^st Century electric grid for Africans, surely he can allocate a much smaller amount to secure ours.