Richard Heinberg
Encyclopedia
Richard Heinberg is an American journalist and educator who has written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues, including oil depletion
. He is the author of ten books. He serves as the senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute
.
in November 1979 and after Velikovsky's death assisted Mrs. Velikovsky editing manuscripts. He published his first book in 1989, Memories and Visions of Paradise: Exploring the Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age, which was the result of ten years of study of world mythology
. An expanded second edition was published in 1995. He began publishing his alternative newsletter, the Museletter, in 1992. His next book was published in 1993: Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth's Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony.
In June 1995, speaking to the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations
in Dayton, Ohio, Heinberg provided "A Primitivist Critique of Civilization" and discussed the ways in which "We are, it would seem, killing the planet."
His books from the later 1990s address the relationships between humanity and the natural world. In 1998 he began teaching at New College of California
.
In 2003, Heinberg published The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies
, one of the first full-length analyses on the issue of peak oil
.
In 2004, Heinberg provided the closing address for the First US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions. His title was "Beyond the Peak."
In February 2007 Heinberg addressed the Committee on International Trade
of the European Parliament
and served as an advisor to the National Petroleum Council
in its report to the U.S. Secretary of Energy on Peak Oil
. In October 2007 he addressed members of the New Zealand Parliament. In 2008 he was a Mayor’s appointed member of the Oil Independent Oakland 2020 Task Force (Oakland, California), which was convened to chart a path for the city to dramatically reduce its petroleum dependence.
Heinberg is now the Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute
in Santa Rosa, California
. He lives in Santa Rosa, California
and was a core faculty member of New College of California until the college closed in March 2008. He taught a course on Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community. He is also a violin
ist, illustrator
and book designer. He is married to Janet Barocco.
Heinberg has proposed an international protocol to peak oil management with the aim of reducing the impact of the arrival of the peak. The adoption of the Protocol would mean that oil-import
ing nations should deal to reduce their importations in an annual percentage, while exporting countries should deal to reduce their exportations in the same percentage. The Uppsala Protocol has been focused in a similar direction.
Heinberg is the editor of Museletter, which has been included in Utne Magazine’s
annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters. He has appeared in the documentaries The End of Suburbia
, The 11th Hour
, Crude Impact
, Oil, Smoke & Mirrors, Chasing God, What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire
, The Great Squeeze, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
, A Farm for the Future and Ripe For Change.
Oil depletion
Oil depletion occurs in the second half of the production curve of an oil well, oil field, or the average of total world oil production. The Hubbert peak theory makes predictions of production rates based on prior discovery rates and anticipated production rates. Hubbert curves predict that the...
. He is the author of ten books. He serves as the senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute
Post Carbon Institute
Post Carbon Institute is a think tank which provides information and analysis on emerging responses and strategies to climate change, energy scarcity, overconsumption, economics and other issues related to sustainability and long term social resilience...
.
Career
Heinberg, after two years in college and a period of personal study, became personal assistant to Immanuel VelikovskyImmanuel Velikovsky
Immanuel Velikovsky was a Russian-born American independent scholar of Jewish origins, best known as the author of a number of controversial books reinterpreting the events of ancient history, in particular the US bestseller Worlds in Collision, published in 1950...
in November 1979 and after Velikovsky's death assisted Mrs. Velikovsky editing manuscripts. He published his first book in 1989, Memories and Visions of Paradise: Exploring the Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age, which was the result of ten years of study of world mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
. An expanded second edition was published in 1995. He began publishing his alternative newsletter, the Museletter, in 1992. His next book was published in 1993: Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth's Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony.
In June 1995, speaking to the International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations
International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations
The International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations is an international scholarly organization dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of civilizational issues...
in Dayton, Ohio, Heinberg provided "A Primitivist Critique of Civilization" and discussed the ways in which "We are, it would seem, killing the planet."
His books from the later 1990s address the relationships between humanity and the natural world. In 1998 he began teaching at New College of California
New College of California
New College of California was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1971 by former Gonzaga University President, Father John Leary. After 37 years, it ceased operations in early 2008....
.
In 2003, Heinberg published The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies
The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial Societies
The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, by Richard Heinberg , is an introduction to the concept of peak oil and petroleum depletion....
, one of the first full-length analyses on the issue of peak oil
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
.
In 2004, Heinberg provided the closing address for the First US Conference on Peak Oil and Community Solutions. His title was "Beyond the Peak."
In February 2007 Heinberg addressed the Committee on International Trade
Committee on International Trade
The Committee on International Trade INTA is a committee of the European Parliament.-External links:*...
of the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and served as an advisor to the National Petroleum Council
National Petroleum Council
The National Petroleum Council is an American advisory committee representing oil and natural gas industry views to the Secretary of Energy.The council was established in 1946 at the request of President Harry S. Truman to represent industry views on any matters relating to oil and natural gas...
in its report to the U.S. Secretary of Energy on Peak Oil
Peak oil
Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...
. In October 2007 he addressed members of the New Zealand Parliament. In 2008 he was a Mayor’s appointed member of the Oil Independent Oakland 2020 Task Force (Oakland, California), which was convened to chart a path for the city to dramatically reduce its petroleum dependence.
Heinberg is now the Senior Fellow of the Post Carbon Institute
Post Carbon Institute
Post Carbon Institute is a think tank which provides information and analysis on emerging responses and strategies to climate change, energy scarcity, overconsumption, economics and other issues related to sustainability and long term social resilience...
in Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
. He lives in Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. The 2010 census reported a population of 167,815. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont and 26th...
and was a core faculty member of New College of California until the college closed in March 2008. He taught a course on Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community. He is also a violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, illustrator
Illustrator
An Illustrator is a narrative artist who specializes in enhancing writing by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text...
and book designer. He is married to Janet Barocco.
Heinberg has proposed an international protocol to peak oil management with the aim of reducing the impact of the arrival of the peak. The adoption of the Protocol would mean that oil-import
Import
The term import is derived from the conceptual meaning as to bring in the goods and services into the port of a country. The buyer of such goods and services is referred to an "importer" who is based in the country of import whereas the overseas based seller is referred to as an "exporter". Thus...
ing nations should deal to reduce their importations in an annual percentage, while exporting countries should deal to reduce their exportations in the same percentage. The Uppsala Protocol has been focused in a similar direction.
Heinberg is the editor of Museletter, which has been included in Utne Magazine’s
Utne Reader
Utne Reader is an American bimonthly magazine. The magazine collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment from generally alternative media sources, including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music and DVDs...
annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters. He has appeared in the documentaries The End of Suburbia
The End of Suburbia
The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of The American Dream is a 2004 documentary film concerning peak oil and its implications for the suburban lifestyle, written and directed by Toronto-based filmmaker Gregory Greene....
, The 11th Hour
The 11th Hour (film)
The 11th Hour is a 2007 documentary film, created, produced and narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio, on the state of the natural environment. It was directed by Leila Conners Petersen and Nadia Conners and financed by Adam Lewis and Pierre André Senizergues, and distributed by Warner Independent...
, Crude Impact
Crude Impact
Crude Impact is a 2006 film written and directed by James Jandak Wood. It is a documentary about the effect of fossil fuels on issues such as global warming, the environmental crisis, society and the questionable practices of oil companies...
, Oil, Smoke & Mirrors, Chasing God, What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire
What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire
What A Way To Go: Life at the End of Empire is a 2007 documentary film about the current situation facing humanity and the world. It discusses issues such as peak oil, climate change, population overshoot and species extinction, as well as how this situation has developed...
, The Great Squeeze, The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil
The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil is an American documentary film that explores the Special Period in Peacetime and its aftermath; the economic collapse and eventual recovery of Cuba following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991...
, A Farm for the Future and Ripe For Change.
Publications
- Memories and Visions of Paradise: Exploring the Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age (1989; revised edition, 1995; British edition, 1990; Portuguese edition, 1991)
- Celebrate the Solstice: Honoring the Earth’s Seasonal Rhythms through Festival and Ceremony (1993; Italian edition, 2002; Portuguese edition, 2002)
- A New Covenant with Nature: Notes on the End of Civilization and the Renewal of Culture (1996; Portuguese edition, 1998) ISBN 978-0835607469
- Cloning the Buddha: The Moral Impact of Biotechnology (1999; Indian edition, 2001; Japanese edition, 2001; Chinese edition, 2001)
- The Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial SocietiesThe Party's Over: Oil, War, and the Fate of Industrial SocietiesThe Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies, by Richard Heinberg , is an introduction to the concept of peak oil and petroleum depletion....
(2003; British, Italian, German, Spanish, and Arabic editions, 2004–2005; revised North American edition, 2005; Spanish edition, 2007; French edition, 2008) - Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World (ISBN 9780865715103) (2004; British edition 2005)
- The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse (2006, ISBN 9780865715639),
- Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines (2007, ISBN 9780865715981).
- Blackout: Coal, Climate, and the Last Energy Crisis (June, 2009). (ISBN 9780865716568)
- The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises, edited by Richard Heinberg & Daniel Lerch (2010) ISBN 978-0970950062
- The End of Growth, (September 2011) ISBN 978-0865716957
External links
- Post Carbon Institute
- Heinberg's personal website
- 2008 interview on Global Public Media Heinberg on Post Carbon Institute's Green New Deal
- OneWorldTV video interview with Richard Heinberg
- Interview: (October 21, 2006) The Oil Depletion Protocol
- Interview, July 2006
- Oil, Smoke & Mirrors Contains interviews with Heinberg discussing peak oil.
- Critique of Civilization Paper presented at the 24th annual meeting of the International Society for the Comparative Study of CivilizationsInternational Society for the Comparative Study of CivilizationsThe International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations is an international scholarly organization dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of civilizational issues...
, June 15, 1995. - BLIND SPOT Documentary, Official Website.
- The End of Growth: Heinberg on the Keiser Report 2011 interview with Richard Heinberg