拜登政府周二警告说，在殖民管道(Colonial Pipeline)遭到勒索软件攻击后，东南部各州面临汽油“供应短缺”，因为一些州宣布紧急情况或暂停规则，一家主要航空公司改变了飞行路线。
美国能源部长詹尼弗·格兰霍姆(Jennifer Granholm)表示，殖民管道公司的首席执行官曾表示，该公司将在周三业务结束前决定是否可以完全重启管道，但即使重启，“也需要几天时间来增加运营。”
格兰霍尔姆告诉记者:“就像在大流行开始时没有理由囤积卫生纸一样，也没有理由囤积汽油，尤其是考虑到这条管道将在本周末和周末投入实际运行。”
最高联邦官员鼓励冷静，尽管弗吉尼亚州州长周二宣布进入紧急状态，“为任何潜在的供应短缺做准备”。他在北卡罗来纳州的对手前一天也这样做了，而在佐治亚州，州长暂停了汽油税和运输燃料的卡车的重量限制。
有趣的是，当驾车者储备汽油时，东南部的一些加油站排起了长队。
格兰霍尔姆在白宫的新闻发布会上说，联邦政府将调查汽油价格欺诈的报告，任何“紧缩”都将是短暂的。
格兰霍尔姆在与美国广播公司新闻高级白宫记者玛丽·布鲁斯的交流中说:“这并不是说我们汽油短缺。”。“这是因为我们面临供应短缺，事情很快就会恢复正常，我们要求人们不要囤积。”
她补充道:“我们有汽油。我们只需要把它放到正确的地方。”
与此同时，部长说，“危机”将会在东南部出现，那里是殖民管道的主要位置。
根据其网站，5500英里的管道系统输送了东海岸消耗的大约45%的燃料，并从德克萨斯州延伸到新泽西州。
格兰霍姆说，“受影响最大的是北卡罗来纳州、南卡罗来纳州、田纳西州、佐治亚州，尤其是弗吉尼亚州南部大约70%的供应量。”
联邦调查局周一表示，在东欧运作的黑暗面犯罪组织据称是此次袭击的幕后黑手。
根据国土安全部波士顿地区办公室周一发布的一份公告，对殖民管道的攻击“可能是迄今为止美国关键基础设施系统上最具破坏性的勒索软件攻击”。
虽然联邦官员仍在试图确定一个外国国家是否可能参与网络攻击，但众所周知，俄罗斯情报机构过去曾与东欧网络犯罪分子合作。
乔·拜登总统周一表示，这次袭击是“犯罪行为”
拜登告诉记者:“到目前为止，根据我们的情报人员，没有证据表明俄罗斯参与了此事。”。“虽然，有证据表明演员的赎金在俄罗斯。他们有责任处理这件事。"
Energy secretary: No need to hoard gasoline amid pipeline shutdown
The Biden administration on Tuesday warned that southeastern states faced a gasoline "supply crunch" following the ransomware attack on the Colonial Pipeline, as several states declared emergencies or suspended rules and one major airline altered its flight routes.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said that Colonial Pipeline's chief executive had indicated the company would decide by the close of business on Wednesday whether it could fully restart the pipeline, but that even if it did, "it will take a few days to ramp up operations."
"Much as there was no cause for, say, hoarding toilet paper at the beginning of the pandemic," Granholm told reporters, "there should be no cause for hoarding gasoline, especially in light of the fact that the pipeline should be substantially operational by the end of this week and over the weekend."
Top federal officials encouraged calm, even as Virginia's governor on Tuesday declared a state of emergency to "prepare for any potential supply shortages." His counterpart in North Carolina did the same the day before, while in Georgia, the governor suspended the gas tax and weight limits on trucks transporting fuel.
Anecdotally, some gas stations across the southeast faced long lines as motorists stocked up on gas.
Granholm said during a news conference at the White House that the federal government would investigate reports of gasoline price gouging and that any "crunch" would be short-lived.
"It's not that we have a gasoline shortage," Granholm said in an exchange with ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce. "It's that we have this supply crunch, and that things will be back to normal soon, and that we’re asking people not to hoard."
She added: "We have gasoline. We just have to get it to the right places."
In the meantime, the secretary said, "the crunch" would be felt in the southeast, where much of the Colonial Pipeline is located.
The 5,500-mile pipeline system transports approximately 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast, according to its website, and runs from Texas to New Jersey.
"It’s about 70% of the supplies of North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, and especially southern Virginia," that, Granholm said, "are impacted the most.”
The FBI said Monday that the DarkSide criminal organization, which operates in Eastern Europe, was allegedly behind the attack.
The attack on the Colonial Pipeline "could prove to be the most devastating ransomware attack on critical infrastructure systems in the U.S. to date," according to a bulletin issued Monday by the Department of Homeland Security’s regional office in Boston.
While federal officials are still trying to determine whether a foreign nation could be involved in the cyberattack, Russian intelligence has been known to cooperate with Eastern European cybercriminals in the past.
President Joe Biden said Monday that the attack was a "criminal act."
“So far, there is no evidence, based on -- from our Intelligence people that Russia is involved,” Biden told reporters. “Although, there is evidence that the actors’ ransomware is in Russia. They have some responsibility to deal with this.”
