Sep 29, 2026 · 58 min
Energy security now means surviving disruption
Energy in a more dangerous world. Resilience, affordability and self-sufficiency are the priorities now. What does that mean for our energy future? | From Climate Week NYC
Conflict, climate shocks, AI demand, and fragmented supply chains are forcing energy policy to balance resilience, affordability, domestic capacity, and decarbonization.
- 1Resilience means withstanding attacks and outages, not simply securing enough fuel or pursuing national self-sufficiency.
- 2Electrification can reduce fuel dependence while increasing exposure to vulnerable grids, utilities, storage gaps, and infrastructure bottlenecks.
- 3AI power demand remains uncertain, making permitting, investment, affordability, and adaptable systems as important as forecasting growth.
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Sarah Kapnick’s resilience argument reframes energy security around surviving disruption rather than merely securing supply.
The brief
Recorded at New York University during Climate Week NYC, Ed Croft convenes Neil Brown, Anna Shpitsberg, Sarah Kapnick, and Amy Myers Jaffe on energy security’s new fault lines.
Attacks on infrastructure, including Ukraine’s strikes on Russian oil facilities, show how inexpensive autonomous weapons can create outsized disruption across energy systems.
Sarah Kapnick argues that security increasingly means resilience: the ability to withstand disruption, using distributed assets and partnerships rather than assuming self-sufficiency.
The panel finds no simple escape from dependence: nuclear needs fuel and equipment, electrification shifts risk toward grids, and AI demand makes investment forecasts unstable.
Tariffs, rare-earth restrictions, aging infrastructure, extreme weather, and public resistance to higher bills turn resilience into a political affordability test.
The closing advice is practical: enter the sector with systems thinking, adaptability, community engagement, and first-principles reasoning beyond incumbent technologies.