Life & Wisdom Quote by Daniel Yergin

"The starting point for energy security today as it has always been is diversification of supplies and sources"

Daniel Yergin, Author

About this Quote

Energy security, Yergin implies, is less a heroic quest for independence than a boring, brutally pragmatic exercise in risk management. “Diversification of supplies and sources” sounds like spreadsheet language, and that’s the point: the sentence drains the romance out of geopolitics and replaces it with portfolio theory. If you want resilience, you don’t bet the national economy on one pipeline, one region, one technology, or one political relationship that can turn sour overnight.

The sly power of “today as it has always been” is its quiet rebuke to every fashionable energy slogan. Whether the era’s obsession is “energy independence,” “drill, baby, drill,” “100% renewables,” or “friend-shoring,” Yergin’s line insists the fundamentals haven’t changed: dependence is inevitable; vulnerability is optional. The intent is stabilizing, almost conservative. It invites policymakers to stop thinking in absolutes and start designing systems that can absorb shocks: wars, embargoes, price spikes, OPEC discipline, shipping chokepoints, cyberattacks, even freak weather.

Context matters here because Yergin’s career has traced the modern energy order’s recurring panics - from the oil shocks of the 1970s to post-9/11 security anxieties to today’s collision of climate targets and geopolitical fragmentation. In that light, “diversification” isn’t just more barrels from more places. It’s LNG terminals, strategic reserves, grid interconnections, nuclear baseload, renewables plus storage, demand response, and efficiency. The subtext: energy transitions don’t eliminate risk; they redistribute it. The smart move is redundancy - the unglamorous architecture of national survival.

Quote Details

Topic	Vision & Strategy
Source	Help us find the source
Cite

More Quotes by Daniel Add to List

About the Author

Daniel Yergin (born February 6, 1947) is a Author from USA.

22 more quotes available

View Profile

Similar Quotes

"But that's not enough: To maintain energy security, one needs a supply system that provides a buffer against shocks. It needs large, flexible markets. And it's important to acknowledge the fact that the entire energy supply chain needs to be protected"

Daniel Yergin, Author

"First, we have to find a common vocabulary for energy security. This notion has a radically different meaning for different people. For Americans it is a geopolitical question. For the Europeans right now it is very much focused on the dependence on imported natural gas"

Daniel Yergin, Author

"I think America understands that energy security is a very important part of our national security. But if we are going to address energy security in a meaningful way going forward, we need to do it in a new manner. We cannot just be doing the same old thing"

Chris Van Hollen, Politician

"And I am a conservative. Sometimes conservatives forget we are supposed to conserve, to save, to be efficient. Plus our dependence on other sources of energy is causing our country to not be independent and to really be vulnerable. So this is a security issue"

Zach Wamp, Politician

"The U.S. now imports over half of its oil supply from the Middle East. This dangerous dependence on foreign energy sources is an issue of national security"

Kenny Marchant, Politician

"It is critical that we have a comprehensive energy plan to provide affordable and reliable supplies of energy so that our economy will not be dependent on foreign sources of energy"

Richard Burr, Politician

"Stable energy prices and enhanced national security will only come when we increase domestic energy resources, which was accomplished today with the opening of ANWR"

Kenny Marchant, Politician

"The sooner we get started with alternative energy sources and recognize that fossil fuels makes us less secure as a nation, and more dangerous as a planet, the better off we'll be"

Lindsey Graham, Politician

"We need to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy"

Charlie Dent, Politician

"With gas prices nationally, and especially in our area, increasingly on the rise, it is more crucial then ever that we take steps to diversify our energy sources and reduce our dependency on foreign oil"

Mary Bono, Politician

"With the increasing demand for oil around the world and the rising costs in Oregon and throughout the nation, we must focus on the development of alternate energy sources, especially those that are clean, efficient and renewable"

Greg Walden, Politician

"It is time for a New Direction for our nation's energy policies"

Lois Capps, Politician

"A comprehensive national energy policy is critical to our nation's economy and our national security. Energy expenditures account for about 7% percent of our total economy and influence pricing in the much of the rest of the economy"

Heather Wilson, Politician

"We must have a relentless commitment to producing a meaningful, comprehensive energy package aimed at conservation, alleviating the burden of energy prices on consumers, decreasing our country's dependency on foreign oil, and increasing electricity grid reliability"

Paul Gillmor, Politician

"Part of protecting our homeland means being less dependent on foreign countries for our energy"

Rod Blagojevich, Politician

"The high prices also highlight the fact that the U.S. is too heavily dependent on fossil fuels that we import from unstable parts of the world. To protect our national security, we must become more energy secure"

Dan Lipinski, Politician

"With 3 percent of the world's resources and 25 percent of the world's demand, it is pretty obvious this country cannot drill its way to energy security"

Lois Capps, Politician

"Our dependence on foreign energy sources is our Achilles heel, not just in the realm of diplomacy, but in terms of our future as the world's economic leader"

Judy Biggert, Politician

"At a time when we are dealing with unpredictable suppliers of energy abroad and higher gas costs at home, the decision to increase domestic energy exploration is integral to a balanced, common sense energy policy"

Randy Neugebauer, Politician

"The fact that the price of gasoline has declined some in recent weeks must not allow Americans to be lulled into a false sense of security. Energy independence must rank along with border security as the top priorities of the United States"

Virgil Goode, Politician