Richard Heinberg

MuseLetter #400 / July 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version It’s with tremendous sadness that we share the news of Richard Heinberg’s tragic passing on July 19, 2026, after a short, brutal illness.

MuseLetter #399 / June 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s MuseLetter is an exploration of community resilience via two related articles.

MuseLetter #398 / May 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download Printable PDF Version Small Modular Nuclear Reactors are a Dead End The nuclear power industry is currently promoting designs for small modular reactors (SMRs) that will supposedly be cheaper, safer,…

MuseLetter #397 / April 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download Printable PDF Version The 2026 Energy Crisis and Our Wile E.

MuseLetter #396 / March 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The Future of Forests Our species’ origin and destiny are entangled with the roots and branches of trees.

MuseLetter #395 / February 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The Empire Crumbles: Part I—The Big Picture In the wee hours of Monday, January 19, US president Donald Trump sent a now-infamous text message to the prime minister of Norw…

MuseLetter #394 / January 2026 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Nourishing the Bioregional Economy: Essential Resources In a recent article I summarized arguments for reversing the trend toward globalization of economies and cultures, ai…

MuseLetter #393 / December 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Electricity Price Squeeze: Something’s Going to Give Using current economic trends to predict the future can be misleading, since all trends are subject to limits and count…

MuseLetter #392 / November 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version What Futures Are Possible?

MuseLetter #391 / October 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Gratitude in the Great Unraveling Here’s a paradox.

MuseLetter #390 / September 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Seven Questions and Answers for a New Generation Gen Z is a generation born into a world full of anxieties—from school shootings to climate Armageddon, to a pandemic and p…

MuseLetter #389 / August 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Lately I’ve been reading Andrew Schelling’s Tracks Along the Left Coast, a biography of linguist, anthropologist, and anarchist Jaime de Angulo (1887-1950).

MuseLetter #388 / July 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version In the course of human events there are times when everyone seems determined to pick sides and brawl.

MuseLetter #387 / June 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version AI Utopia, AI Apocalypse, and AI Reality Recent articles and books about artificial intelligence (AI) offer images of the future that align like iron filings around two magnetic

MuseLetter #386 / May 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version A Dead World, Plastic-Wrapped to Preserve Freshness In the classic 1967 film The Graduate, a family friend of lead character Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman) offers…

MuseLetter #385 / April 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The End of Big Solutions The world has changed dramatically since the start of the second Trump administration.

MuseLetter #384 / March 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The Evolution of Modernity The human world of the early 21st century is dominated by science, cities, and high technology.

MuseLetter #383 / February 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Putting Nature at the Center Life may be unique to Earth.

MuseLetter #382 / January 2025 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Are We Too Smart for Our Own Good?

MuseLetter #381 / December 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Dear reader, Thank you for your interest in, and support for my ongoing explorations of topics related to the survival of nature and humanity.

MuseLetter #380 / November 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Envisioning a Livable Future Sir David King, former chief scientific advisor to the UK government, recently wrote that, “On our present path, civilization as we know it will

MuseLetter #379 / October 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Beyond Growth: A Journey through the Landscape of Sustainable Economics Growth is a story of success—until it isn’t.

MuseLetter #378 / September 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Us vs. them: Understanding the roots of political polarization and what you can do about it July 13, 2024, Butler, PA: Former president and current presidential candidate…

MuseLetter #377 / August 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Humanity’s transition from relying overwhelmingly on fossil fuels to instead using alternative low-carbon energy sources is sometimes said to be unstoppable and exponential.

MuseLetter #376 / July 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Restoring Nature Is Our Only Climate Solution Climate change is a huge, complicated problem.

MuseLetter #375 / June 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This is Part 1 of an exploration of the current state of the climate crisis.

MuseLetter #374 / May 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month's Museletter begins with an invitation to join Post Carbon Institute's new programme Resilience+ to explore ways of navigating the polycrisis.

This article was originally published by World Literature Today The Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu wrote that, in warfare, it is essential to know both your enemy and yourself.

MuseLetter #373 / April 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The first piece in this month's Museletter 'How to Build a Climate Bomb' is an essay on the perils of geoengineering.

MuseLetter #372 / March 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The March Museletter is made up of three essays.

by Richard Heinberg and David Fridley Radical societal transformation is inevitable; a plan could make a difference between catastrophe and progress.

MuseLetter #371 / February 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version February's Museletter kicks off with "I hear voices", a thought piece that takes the form of a self-therapy session on responses to the existential crises facing the world.

MuseLetter #370 / January 2024 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version January's Museletter begins with an essay revisiting the ancient Chinese classic, "Tao Te Ching," drawing inspiration for the challenges of today.

MuseLetter #369 / December 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Holiday greetings to you, valued reader.

MuseLetter #368 / November 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Every Thursday our next-door neighbor hires a worker to use a leaf blower.

MuseLetter #367 / October 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The World’s Top Industrial Countries Are in Treacherous Waters The following essay was written prior to the Hamas attack on Israel, and the commencement of Israeli retaliati…

MuseLetter #366 / September 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Why 2% Is the Most Dangerous Number No One Is Talking About We’ve had a summer from hell, with July 2023 temporarily claiming the title of hottest month on record.

MuseLetter #365 / August 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version You May Think You’re Immune to Cult Thinking, but We’re All Susceptible Times of societal upheaval or rapid social change tend to generate new religious movements, and what a…

MuseLetter #364 / July 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Are these the end times?

MuseLetter #363 / June 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s Museletter is about crisis and acceleration.

MuseLetter #362 / May 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Human activity—mostly the burning of fossil fuels—has raised Earth’s atmospheric carbon content by 50 percent, from 280 parts per million (ppm) to 420 ppm.

MuseLetter #361 / April 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Post Carbon Institute: Looking Back, Looking Forward This year Post Carbon Institute turns 20, so it’s a good time to take stock.

MuseLetter #360 / March 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Why We Can’t Just Do It This month’s Museletter kicks off with a short response to the latest IPCC report and why we’re failing to curb carbon emissions despite the dire warni…

MuseLetter #359 / February 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s Museletter leads with an article looking at various debt timebombs threatening us all.

MuseLetter #358 / January 2023 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Recent news articles about a breakthrough in nuclear fusion research heralded the potential for “limitless” energy.

MuseLetter #357 / December 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Dear MuseLetter reader, 2022 was the 30th year for this publication, and it's been heartening to see these essays being distributed through an increasing number of online a…

MuseLetter #356 / November 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s Museletter begins with a tribute to Herman Daly, the father of ecological economics.

MuseLetter #355 / October 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s Museletter consists of two essays.

MuseLetter #354 / September 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version In May I wrote about the emerging energy and food crisis gripping the world due largely to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

MuseLetter #353 / July 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month's Museletter begins with "Deadly Optimism, Useful Pessimism," which warns against the former and shows how the latter could help us find a path towards realistic alt…