![[Power book cover]](https://richardheinberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/cover_POWERcatalog-proof_300x450.jpg)
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. It also includes the concluding part of my trilogy written for Independent Media Institute on the renewable energy transition (parts 1 and 2 were included in Museletter #356, […]
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. Whenever I read that word limitless I wince, because I’ve learned to view it as a subtle instruction to readers to “please stop thinking now.” After decades of false promises […]
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 and print publishing outlets. There's more to come! May your solstice be a time for reflection, […]
MuseLetter #355 / October 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s Museletter consists of two essays. The first, “Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies,” looks at parallels between today’s energy/economy crisis and my 2003 book The Party’s Over. The second, “Blues for America,” was inspired by a concert I attended […]
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. The crisis continues to unfold. However, most people are aware of it only via high prices—for gasoline, electricity, natural gas, and food—and through […]
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 alternatives. The second article, "Will civilization collapse because it’s running out of oil?," summarizes an important […]
MuseLetter #352 / June 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version The 1970s Again? For the United States and much of the rest of the world, the 1970s were a time of high oil prices, surging inflation, stock market swoons, political upheaval, and geopolitical tension. Add pandemic and climate change to the list, and […]
MuseLetter #351 / May 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Dear reader, This month’s MuseLetter consists of two essays. The first, “Can We Abandon Pollutive Fossil Fuels and Avoid an Energy Crisis,” maps the constraints of climate/energy policy that will shape the remainder of our lives. The second, “The Energy and Food Crisis […]
In the 1970s, global political and corporate elites had all the information they needed to put the world on a path toward long-term stability. Systems science was sufficiently advanced that a team of its practitioners organized a scenario study to see how trends in industrial production, population, food, pollution, and resource usage might interact over the next few decades; the study showed that continued growth in population and industrial production would prove unsustainable.
MuseLetter #349 / March 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version Dear subscriber, This month has seen the start of a historic and tragic invasion. In this month’s Museletter I’ve examined some of the Ukraine war’s likely implications for energy, economy, and geopolitics. Meanwhile, in a second piece Museletter maintains its gaze on an […]
MuseLetter #347 / January 2022 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version This month’s Museletter kicks off with an essay on the important role of social cohesion in holding societies together and addressing crises. That is followed by one summarising the current status of global action to combat climate change. Social Cohesion Is Vital, and […]
MuseLetter #345 / November 2021 by Richard Heinberg Download printable PDF version How Much of the Worsening Energy Crisis is Due to Depletion? Coal and natural gas spot prices have recently soared to record levels internationally, while oil is trading at over $80 a barrel—the highest price in seven years. Newspaper columnists are asking whether […]
