Note that as Trump tweets about the need for security his budget is cutting proven measures
like the earthquake early warning system.
http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/336252-trump-after-london-attack-we-must-stop-being-politically-correct
President Trump warned after a deadly attack in London that terrorism will “only get worse” if officials don’t “get down to the business of security for our own people” and end political correctness.
“We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse,” he tweeted early Sunday.
We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people. If we don't get smart it will only get worse
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 4, 2017
Yet, at this same moment his budget proposes ending funding for the earthquake warning system. Yes, that is $0 for a proven warning system that would save lives during inevitable natural disasters.
There is no question that earthquakes will occur in the future and an early warning system can provide just enough of an alert for surgeons to put down scalpels, water systems to temporarily halt flow to prevent flooding, elevators to stop so people could exit rather than being trapped in them, trains and subways to stop to avoid derailing at speed, oil and gas to halt pipeline flow to avert spills and fires, etc.
Whenever he talks about needing more security, contrast that with him pulling funding for tested systems that would provide security for large numbers of the population during events that are certain to occur.
http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-93467381/
Yet the rapid progress could all unravel if President Trump’s budget is approved. The Department of the Interior is proposing no funding for the system this year and “would end USGS efforts to implement the ShakeAlert earthquake early warning system, suspending internal efforts and eliminating external funding to partners” such as Caltech, UC Berkeley, the University of Oregon and the University of Washington.
Seismologist Lucy Jones, who formerly worked for the USGS, said she imagines that such a decision would cripple the ShakeAlert program.
Ending federal involvement in the system would prompt scientists to leave the project, Jones said. The early warning program needs dozens of researchers continually improving the software, monitoring and operating the system, and installing and repairing seismic sensors, she said.
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Mexico lost 10,000 people in 1985. Japan lost 5,000 people in 1995. Turkey lost 17,000 people in 1999. And China lost 80,000 people in 2008.
“Each of those then triggered the development of an early warning system in those countries,” Jones said. “It’ll be a shame if we only get it because we kill a lot of people.”
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