Providing security is a primary objective of every global leader. With the fervent push to address climate issues in the US and Western Europe, and the associated policy-driven energy crisis in the EU, several important realties are becoming clear. First, there are no clean and dirty, renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. They all have benefits and environmental impacts. Intermittent sources require expensive backup to make them reliable. There are trade-offs. Second, not everything can, or should be electrified. Many of the industrial materials and services required by global economies such as steel, cement, plastic, ammonia and transoceanic travel require high heat and energy density produced by burning molecules. Finally, secure energy—affordable, reliable and safe—underpins economic health, lifts people from poverty, and provides nations the ability to invest in the environment, including atmospheric emissions reductions. Recognizing these realities sets the framework for a balanced dialog about energy, climate, poverty, and many other major global issues.