Richard passed away unexpectedly in July 2026. Read this rememberance by Asher Miller.
Richard Heinberg was regarded as one of the world’s foremost advocates for a shift away from our current reliance on fossil fuels. A former professor at New College in Santa Rosa, Richard served as Senior Fellow of Post Carbon Institute for nearly twenty years. He was the author of fourteen books, including some of the seminal works on societyâs current energy and environmental sustainability crisis:
- Power: Limits and Prospects for Human Survival (New Society, 2021) power.postcarbon.org
- Our Renewable Future: Laying the Path for One Hundred Percent Clean Energy, co-authored with David Fridley (Island Press, 2016) ourrenewablefuture.org
- Afterburn: Society Beyond Fossil Fuels (New Society, 2015)
- Snake Oil: How Frackingâs False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future (Post Carbon Institute, 2013; UK, Dutch, Spanish, and Romanian editions 2014)
- The End of Growth: Adapting to Our New Economic Reality (New Society, 2011; UK, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, and French editions 2012)
- Blackout: Coal, Climate and the Last Energy Crisis (New Society, 2009; UK edition 2010)
- Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines (New Society, 2007; UK and Korean editions, 2008)
- The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism, and Economic Collapse (New Society, 2006; UK edition, 2006)
- Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World (New Society, 2004; UK edition 2005)
- The Partyâs Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies (New Society, 2003; UK, Italian, German, Spanish, and Arabic editions, 2004-2005; revised North American edition, 2005; French edition 2008)
Richard authored hundreds of essays and articles that have appeared in such journals as Nature, Reuters, Wall Street Journal, The American Prospect, Public Policy Research, Quarterly Review, Literary Review, Yes!, and The Sun; and on websites such as Resilience.org, CommonDreams.org, Alternet.org, ProjectCensored.org, and Counterpunch.com. His monthly MuseLetter for 400 consecutive months starting in 1992, and was included in Utne Magazineâs annual list of Best Alternative Newsletters.
Richard delivered hundreds of lectures on energy and climate issues to audiences on six continents, addressing policy makers at many levels, from local City Councils to members of the European Parliament. He has been quoted and interviewed countless times for print (including for Reuters, the Associated Press, and Time), television (including Good Morning America, National Geographic, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Al-Jazeera, and C-SPAN), and radio (including NPR, WABC, and Air America).
Richard appeared in many film and television documentaries, including Leonardo DiCaprioâs 11th Hour. He was a recipient of the Atlas Award for climate heroes (2012) and the M. King Hubbert Award for Excellence in Energy Education (2006). In 2012 Richard was appointed to His Majesty the King of Bhutanâs International Expert Working Group for the New Development Paradigm initiative.
Richard wrote and narrated Post Carbon Instituteâs animated video 300 Years of Fossil Fuels in 300 Seconds (winner of a YouTubesâs/DoGooder 2011 Video of the Year Award), which has viewed by nearly two million people and translated into multiple languages. He was also the co-author and narrator of Post Carbon Instituteâs 22-video Think Resilience online course.
High-resolution headshot
Press appearances
