Southeast Hit by Gas Shortages After Colonial Pipeline Hack

Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina are implementing emergency measures to quell potential gasoline shortages after a cyberattack prompted a major pipeline to shutdown over the weekend. The Colonial Pipeline announced Saturday that operations would temporarily shut down following the ransomware attack. The pipeline delivers roughly 45% of all of fuel consumed along the east coast, and reportedly hopes to resume service substantially by the end of this week. Meanwhile, between 3% and 9% of gas stations in the three aforementioned states, as well as Florida, South Carolina and Tennessee, were reportedly without gasoline as of midday Tuesday. The news was covered on all sides. Some reports from left- and center-rated sources focused more on panic-buying as a potential irritant for the shortages. Right-rated outlets covered the news more prominently, often framing rising gas prices in the context of Biden's presidency and highlighting videos of apparent lines at gas stations across the southeastern U.S. Others on the right and elsewhere throughout the spectrum criticized a tweet from the New York Times (Lean Left bias) Monday morning saying "there have been no long lines" at gas stations; the Times' story has been updated with more context since Monday morning.