Early in his career, Yergin worked as a contributing editor for New York magazine.[21] Through 1980, he was a lecturer at the Harvard Business School and, until 1985, a lecturer at Harvard Kennedy School.[28][4] Yergin's first book, Shattered Peace: The Origins of the Cold War and the National Security State (1977),[19] was partly based upon his doctoral dissertation and focused on the origins of the Cold War.[4]
In the mid-1970s,[29] while a post-doctoral fellow,[30] he began to take a particular interest in energy in his writing.[23] 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.[29] 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."[21] It proved to be a The New York Times bestseller,[29] ultimately selling 300,000 copies in six languages.[4]
Within its first year of release, Yergin and Stobaugh were called to Washington, D.C. several times to testify before Congressional committees.[29] 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."[3]
Yergin is arguably best known for his fourth book,[12]The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power (1991).[4] 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,[31] selling around 700,000 copies[4] in 17 languages.[32] The book was adapted into a PBS/BBC series[13] seen by around 100 million viewers both domestically and internationally,[4][21] with Yergin as the principal storyteller.[33] 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.[34]
In September 2020, Yergin published The New Map: Energy, Climate, and the Clash of Nations.[40][41]
Viewpoints and research
Yergin's articles[42] and op-eds on energy, history, and the economy have been published in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal,[8][7]The New York Times,[9]Foreign Affairs,[34]The Washington Post,[10] the Financial Times,[43][11] and Forbes.[44] He has also been interviewed about energy policy and international politics on various television programs.[45] In 2003[46] he became CNBC's global energy expert, which he continued to do for a decade,[47][14] and in September 2011 he appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss wind and solar power.[48]
In a 2011 essay published in The Wall Street Journal, Yergin criticized predictions of imminent peak oil. Instead of a peak, Yergin predicted that future oil production would plateau as increasing prices moderate demand and stimulate production.[49][43] He also addressed peak oil in a chapter in The Quest entitled "Is the World Running Out of Oil?"[50]
In 2019, Yergin and former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz led a major 229-page study, Advancing the Landscape of Clean Energy Innovation,[51] 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."[52]
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.[53]
Memberships and directorships
Yergin is the current vice chairman of S&P Global, appointed during the company's merger with IHS Markit.[2] He became the vice chairman of IHS in 2012 and remained vice chairman when IHS merged with Markit in 2016.[1][54][22] He is also chairman of S&P's annual CERAWeek energy conference.[18][16][55]
Yergin was awarded the 1997[60] United States Energy Award for "lifelong achievements in energy and the promotion of international understanding."[15] 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."[61] In 2014 the Prime Minister of India presented Yergin[15][3] with a Lifetime Achievement Award,[22][13] and in 2015 the University of Pennsylvania presented him with the first Carnot Prize for "distinguished contributions to energy policy."[13] The U.S. Department of Energy awarded him the first James Schlesinger Medal for Energy Security in 2014.[3]
Energy Future: The Report of the Energy Project at the Harvard Business School. New York: Random House, 1979. ISBN0-394-50163-2. Reprints: Ballantine Books, ISBN0-394-29349-5; Knopf, 3rd ed., 1982, ISBN0-394-71063-0; Random House, new revised 3rd ed., 1990. [With Robert B. Stobaugh.]
The Commanding Heights: The Battle Between Government and the Marketplace That Is Remaking the Modern World; New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998. ISBN0-684-82975-4. [With Joseph A. Stanislaw.]
^ abRedburn, Tom. "'Energy Future' Goes Beyond Ivory Tower"Archived February 18, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, 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."
^"2011 shortlist". Financial Times. London, United Kingdom. September 14, 2011. Retrieved May 30, 2012.
^
Yergin, Daniel (September 15, 2020). The new map: energy, climate, and the clash of nations. USA: Penguin Press. ISBN978-0-14311-115-3. Paperback edition.