Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be blogging about U.S. energy security and the ways we can strengthen it. This is a topic that interests many Americans, and particularly so at a time of international geopolitical unrest.

The term “energy security” is often confused with “energy independence” – but they’re very different concepts. The reality is that pursuing energy independence would not enhance our energy security – and, in fact, could undermine it.

Why? The U.S. is one of the most advanced global economies in the world – and like most global economies, we use affordable energy supplies from around the world to get us to work, to transport goods and to keep our industries running. Shutting off energy supplies from certain regions in the name of “energy independence” only limits our options and heightens the risk that we won’t be able to meet these needs – and our economic growth could suffer as a result. Americans’ energy security depends upon expanding the global pool of supplies through investments in countries all over the world, both at home and abroad – not by limiting our energy options, as “energy independence” implies.

And for those who think that building a wall around U.S. energy markets would prevent disruptions or price volatility, think again. Even here in the U.S., events out of our control can disrupt our energy supplies. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico initially took out more than 25 percent of U.S. crude oil production and 10 to 15 percent of U.S. refinery capacity. However, free and open trade allowed for supplies released by the International Energy Agency member countries (including those in North America, Europe and the Pacific) to help fill that gap.

Or, consider those events that we as Americans can control but choose not to – such as developing our own energy resources in offshore areas around the country. The vast majority of our nation’s offshore regions remain off limits to oil and gas exploration, despite the fact that those regions contain significant oil and gas supplies. Decisions like this affect our energy security just as much as the circumstances that are beyond our control.

Energy security starts at home, but we need to pursue all economic energy supplies – from areas all around the world – to secure our energy future. Over the next few weeks, I’ll talk about the ways we can achieve energy security, from diversifying the areas where we get our energy to taking advantage of efficiency to promoting development of advanced technologies. There’s no one path to energy security, but rather multiple ways to get there.