Daniel Yergin

Daniel Howard Yergin (born February 6, 1947) is an American author, economic historian, and consultant within the energy and economic sectors. Yergin is vice chairman of S&P Global. He was formerly vice chairman of IHS Markit, which merged with S&P in 2022.<ref name=nema>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=spglobal>Template:Cite news</ref> He founded Cambridge Energy Research Associates, which IHS Markit acquired in 2004.<ref name=reuters-grants/> He has authored or co-authored several books on energy and world economics, including the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power, (1991)<ref name="Ringle"/> The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World (2011),<ref name=ny-save/> and The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations (2020).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Yergin's articles and op-eds on energy, history, and the economy have been published in publications such as The Wall Street Journal,<ref name=wsj-pipeline/><ref name=wsj-struggle>Template:Cite news</ref> The New York Times,<ref name=nyt-king/> The Washington Post,<ref name=wp-yergin/> and the Financial Times.<ref name=ft-yerginop/> All of Yergin's books have been drafted in long-hand.<ref name=ap-threaten/> He is affiliated with multiple organizations, as a director on the United States Energy Association,<ref name=emeritus/> a trustee of the Brookings Institution,<ref name=penn>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=council-foreign/> a long-term advisor to several U.S. administrations,<ref name=hchronicle-forces/><ref name=di-disney/> as well as chairman of the annual CERAWeek energy conference.<ref name=calgary-cera/>

Early life and education

Yergin was born on February 6, 1947,<ref name=ap-look>Template:Cite news</ref> in Los Angeles, California.<ref name=latimes-beyond/> His father Irving Yergin worked at Warner Brothers and was editor of The Hollywood Reporter and a former journalist in Chicago.<ref name=latimes-knows/> His mother Naomi Yergin was a sculptor and painter.<ref name=latimes-knows/> He attended Beverly Hills High School.<ref name=latimes-knows>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=latimes-beyond>Redburn, Tom. "'Energy Future' Goes Beyond Ivory Tower" Template:Webarchive, Los Angeles Times, August 19, 1979. Retrieved December 15, 2007. "Fifteen years ago, Daniel Yergin left Beverly Hills High School to attend Yale University and, except for summer jobs and brief visits, he hasn't been back here since."</ref> He received his B.A. from Yale University<ref name=ihs-execs/><ref name=penn/> in 1968,<ref name=newjournal>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ap-look/> where he wrote for the Yale Daily News and was founder of The New Journal<ref name="Ringle"/> in 1967.<ref name=newjournal/>

He received his M.A. in 1970<ref name=ap-look/> and his Ph.D. in international history from Cambridge University, where he was a Marshall Scholar.<ref name=newjournal/><ref name=ihs-execs/><ref name=council-foreign/> While at Cambridge, he wrote for various British magazines as well as The Atlantic,<ref name="Ringle"/> where he was a contributing editor,<ref name=nyt-dudley>Template:Cite news</ref> and The New York Times Magazine.<ref name="Ringle"/> He has honorary doctorates from Dartmouth College,<ref name=ogfj-honorary>Template:Cite news</ref> Colorado School of Mines,<ref name=mines>Template:Cite news</ref> University of Houston, and the University of Missouri.<ref name=cnbc-yergin>Template:Citation</ref>

Career

1970s

Early in his career, Yergin worked as a contributing editor for New York magazine.<ref name=latimes-knows/> Through 1980, he was a lecturer at the Harvard Business School and, until 1985, a lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School.<ref name=phoenix-ihs/><ref name="Ringle"/> Yergin's first book, Shattered Peace: The Origins of the Cold War and the National Security State (1977),<ref name=ap-look/> was partly based upon his doctoral dissertation and focused on the origins of the Cold War.<ref name="Ringle"/>

In the mid-1970s,<ref name=nyt-future/> while a post-doctoral fellow,<ref name=crimson>Template:Cite news</ref> he began to take a particular interest in energy in his writing.<ref name=newjournal/> Basing the book on four years of research, with Robert B. Stobaugh he co-authored and co-edited Energy Future: The Report of the Energy Project at the Harvard Business School in 1979.<ref name=nyt-future>Template:Cite news</ref> According to the Los Angeles Times, the book "caused a considerable stir with its optimistic view of the possibilities of energy conservation and such alternative sources as solar power."<ref name=latimes-knows/> It proved to be a The New York Times bestseller,<ref name=nyt-future/> ultimately selling 300,000 copies in six languages.<ref name="Ringle"/>

Within its first year of release, Yergin and Stobaugh were called to Washington, D.C. several times to testify before Congressional committees.<ref name=nyt-future/> He also advised James Schlesinger, the first US energy secretary, around the time of the Iranian revolution. According to Reuters, "since then he has given advice to every administration."<ref name=reuters-grants/>

1980s–1990s

He founded Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) with Jamey Rosenfield in 1982<ref name=ap-threaten/><ref name=reuters-grants/> with the purchase of a $2 file cabinet from The Salvation Army.<ref name=latimes-knows/><ref name=phoenix-ihs>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Ringle">Template:Cite news</ref> With Yergin as president,<ref name="Ringle"/><ref name=nyt-pullitzer/> the energy research and consulting firm was created as a "quasi think-tank and source of energy industry analysis."<ref name=latimes-knows/>

Yergin is arguably best known for his fourth book,<ref name=ap-threaten/> The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power (1991).<ref name="Ringle"/> It became a number-one bestseller that won the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1992 and the Eccles Prize for the best book on economics for a general audience,<ref name=nyt-pullitzer>Template:Cite news</ref> selling around 700,000 copies<ref name="Ringle"/> in 17 languages.<ref name=amazon-prize>Template:Citation</ref> The book was adapted into a PBS/BBC series<ref name=penn/> seen by around 100 million viewers both domestically and internationally,<ref name="Ringle"/><ref name=latimes-knows/> with Yergin as the principal storyteller.<ref>The Prize on PBS - credits and cast listing on IMDB</ref> His next book was Russia 2010 and What It Means for the World (1993), written with Thane Gustafson, which provided scenarios for the development of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.<ref name=fa-means>Template:Cite news</ref>

2000s–2010s

His 2002 book The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy,<ref name=penn/> written with Joseph Stanislaw, described in narrative form the struggle over the "frontier" between governments and markets and the rise of globalization.<ref name="Ringle" /> In the "first major PBS series on business in more than a decade,"<ref name=latimes-knows/> he led the team that created an Emmy-winning six-hour<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=emeritus>Template:Citation</ref> PBS/BBC television series based on the book,<ref name=penn/> serving as executive producer and co-writer<ref name=c-heights>Template:Citation</ref> and interviewing individuals such as Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney, Vicente Fox, and Mikhail Gorbachev.<ref name=wired-commanding>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

CERA was acquired by the information company IHS Inc. in 2004,<ref name=ihs-execs/><ref name=reuters-grants/><ref name=penn/> with Yergin becoming an executive of the combined company and remaining chairman of CERA.<ref name=ft-sold>Template:Cite news</ref> Described as a sequel to his book The Prize, Yergin's The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World (2011) continued his history of the global oil industry but also addressed energy security, natural gas, electric power, climate change and the search for renewable sources of energy.<ref name=ny-save>Template:Cite journal</ref> Like his previous books, it was drafted in long-hand.<ref name=ap-threaten>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011 it was shortlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.<ref name=ft-short>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

2020s

In September 2020, Yergin published The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations,with a revised edition published the following year.<ref name="yergin-2020"> Template:Cite book Paperback edition. </ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2024, Yergin released an unabridged audiobook version of The Prize. The audiobook includes an epilogue narrated by Yergin reflecting on the relevance of the book’s messaging present day, more than 30 years after its original publication date.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Viewpoints and research

File:2014 International Seapower Symposium (15277793135).jpg

Yergin at the 2014 International Seapower Symposium

Yergin's articles<ref name=livemint>A Price Tag to Growth, LiveMint, February 23, 2007</ref> and op-eds on energy, history, and the economy have been published in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal,<ref name=wsj-struggle/><ref name=wsj-pipeline>Crisis in the Pipeline, Daniel Yergin, The Wall Street Journal, August 10, 2006</ref> The New York Times,<ref name=nyt-king>Visions of an Age When Oil Isn't King The New York Times, September 20, 2011</ref> Foreign Affairs,<ref name=fa-means/> The Washington Post,<ref name=wp-yergin>Template:Cite news</ref> the Financial Times,<ref name=ft-perils>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ft-yerginop>Template:Cite news</ref> and Forbes.<ref name=forbes-startup>Template:Cite news</ref> He has also been interviewed about energy policy and international politics on various television programs.<ref name=cnbc-int>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2003<ref name=nbc-expert>Template:Cite news</ref> he became CNBC's global energy expert, which he continued to do for a decade,<ref name=library>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=emeritus/> and in September 2011 he appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss wind and solar power.<ref name=creport>Template:Citation</ref>

He addressed peak oil in a chapter in The Quest entitled "Is the World Running Out of Oil?"<ref name=quest-epicc>The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. Penguin Press, 2011. Template:ISBN. (Revised, reprint edition, 2012.)</ref> and in a 2011 essay published in The Wall Street Journal. Instead of a peak, Yergin predicted that future oil production would plateau as increasing prices moderate demand and stimulate production.<ref name=wsj-will>Yergin, Daniel. "There will be oil", The Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2011.</ref><ref name=ft-perils/>

In 2019, Yergin and former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz led a major 229-page study, Advancing the Landscape of Clean Energy Innovation,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> which was conducted by IHS Markit and Energy Futures Initiative for the Breakthrough Energy coalition, led by Bill Gates. The study identified ten areas for transformational energy breakthroughs. Axios quoted Yergin, "The purpose of the report is to provide a framework and a guide to people who want to invest in clean energy innovation."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Yergin chaired IHS Markit's study on "Reinventing the Wheel," which focused on changing transportation methods, the role of electric vehicles, and the timing of peak oil demand.<ref name=oil-demand>Template:Cite news</ref>

Memberships and directorships

Yergin is the current vice chairman of S&P Global, appointed during the company's merger with IHS Markit.<ref name=spglobal/> He became the vice chairman of IHS in 2012 and remained vice chairman when IHS merged with Markit in 2016.<ref name=nema/><ref name=ihs-bell>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=ihs-execs>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He is also chairman of S&P's annual CERAWeek energy conference.<ref name=calgary-cera>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=hchronicle-forces> Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He previously chaired the US Department of Energy's Task Force on Strategic Energy Research and Development.<ref name=emeritus/> He is a trustee of the Brookings Institution,<ref name=penn/><ref name=council-foreign/> where he chairs the energy security roundtable.<ref name=ihs-testify>Template:Cite news</ref> He is currently a director on the United States Energy Association and the U.S.-Russia Business Council.

He serves on the National Petroleum Council, which advises the U.S. Secretary of Energy.<ref name=penn/><ref name=emeritus/> He is on the advisory boards of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Energy Initiative,<ref name=penn/> and the Columbia University Center on Global Energy Policy.<ref name=council-foreign/> Yergin has been a member of the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board under presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In December 2016 Yergin joined a business forum composed primarily of CEOs assembled to provide strategic and policy advice on economic issues to President Donald Trump.<ref name=di-disney>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The forum was disbanded in August 2017.<ref name=cnbc-domm>Template:Cite news</ref>

Awards

Yergin was awarded the 1997<ref name=lehigh-abby> Template:Cite news</ref> United States Energy Award for "lifelong achievements in energy and the promotion of international understanding."<ref name=council-foreign>Template:Citation</ref> The International Association for Energy Economics gave Dr. Yergin its 2012 award for "outstanding contributions to the profession of energy economics and to its literature."<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2014 the Prime Minister of India presented Yergin<ref name=council-foreign/><ref name=reuters-grants>Template:Cite news</ref> with a Lifetime Achievement Award,<ref name=ihs-execs/><ref name=penn/> and in 2015 the University of Pennsylvania presented him with the first Carnot Prize for "distinguished contributions to energy policy."<ref name=penn/> The U.S. Department of Energy awarded him the first James Schlesinger Medal for Energy Security in 2014.<ref name=reuters-grants/>

In 2023, Yergin received the Pioneer Award from Southern Methodist University.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2024, he received the Centennial Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Energy Association on the occasion of its hundredth anniversary.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Publishing history

Books as author

• Shattered Peace: The Origins of the Cold War and the National Security State. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1977. Reprints: Penguin, 1978, 1980, Template:ISBN; Penguin, rev. & updated, 1990, Template:ISBN.
• The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1991. Template:ISBN. Reprint: Simon & Schuster, 1992, Template:ISBN.
• The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. Penguin Press, 2011. Template:ISBN.<ref name=pweekly-quest>The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World, Publishers Weekly, July 11, 2011</ref> (Revised, reprint edition, 2012.)
• The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations. Penguin Press, 2020. Template:ISBN.<ref name=pweekly-newmap>The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations, Publishers Weekly, September 1, 2020</ref>

Books as co-author

• Energy Future: The Report of the Energy Project at the Harvard Business School. New York: Random House, 1979. Template:ISBN. Reprints: Ballantine Books, Template:ISBN; Knopf, 3rd ed., 1982, Template:ISBN; Random House, new revised 3rd ed., 1990. [With Robert B. Stobaugh.]
• Global Insecurity: A Strategy for Energy and Economic Renewal. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1982. Template:ISBN. Reprint: Viking Penguin Books, 1983, Template:ISBN. [With Martin Hillenbrand.]
• Russia 2010: And What It Means for the World. New York: Random House, 1993. Template:ISBN. Reprint: Vintage, 1995, Template:ISBN. [With Thane Gustafson.]
• The Commanding Heights: The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace That Is Remaking the Modern World; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. Template:ISBN. [With Joseph A. Stanislaw.]
  • Revised, retitled and updated as The Commanding Heights: The Battle for the World Economy; New York: Free Press, 2002. Template:ISBN.

See also

• List of Yale University people
• List of American non-fiction environmental writers
• List of economic advisors to Donald Trump
• List of University of Cambridge people
• Predicting the timing of peak oil

External links

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• Template:C-SPAN
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