Tag Archives: peak oil

Richard Heinberg on Our Bonus Decade

If you’re someone who’s curious about the geopolitical implications of carbon fuel and the ecological havoc it wreaks, you’ve probably come across some of Richard Heinberg‘s work. This week on Sea Change Radio, we speak with this senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute who has authored over 13 books and regularly ponders the past and future of humanity and the earth in his Museletter. We discuss the global debt crunch, the search for tight oil, and the concomitant acceleration of climate change. Heinberg also tells us his thoughts on negative emissions technologies and regenerative agriculture, and explains why he refers to the past ten years as “our bonus decade.”

Richard Heinberg: After the Burn

RichardHeinbergAfter a two-century-long burning bender, the globe is in for a heck of a hangover. Our guest this week on Sea Change Radio is Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow at the Post-Carbon Institute, and author of a dozen books about growth, peak oil, and energy issues. His latest book is called Afterburn, a collection of essays that center on the impending consequences of what he terms “The Great Burning” – our chronic habit of fossil-fuel binging. Heinberg and host Alex Wise talk about what it will take to truly transition off of fossil fuels, including the need for bold leadership and radically different policies. He explains why the GDP is a flawed metric for success, and talks about why we should move away from the outdated Gross Domestic Product, and toward the Global Happiness Index as a better metric of national well-being.

Richard Heinberg on Natural Gas: Bridge Fuel or Fool’s Gold?

RichardHeinberg_gardensnake-oil-front-coverWe’ve spoken to Richard Heinberg in the past about several problems inherent to our carbon-based economy, from peak oil, to coal to what he has dubbed “the end of growth.”

Now the author and senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute has a new book focusing on the natural gas industry’s practice of hydraulic fracturing, better known as fracking. This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with Heinberg about his book, titled Snake Oil: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future, and delve into the economic and environmental factors behind the natural gas boom, which to some is an important bridge fuel and to others is fool’s gold.

Richard Heinberg: “The Quest” For Truth

Last year, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and energy consultant Daniel Yergin published his long-awaited sequel to the The Prize called The Quest: Energy, Security, and the Remaking of the Modern World. The New York Times called this follow-up “even better… than the first. It is searching, impartial and alarmingly up to date.” The Prize provides readers with an overview of the modern energy industry and posits that peak oil, the premise that the world’s oil supply is being rapidly depleted, is an out-dated theory and that with new discoveries in shale gas, we’ve instead reached a comfortable plateau when it comes to ferreting out fossil fuels from the ground. This week’s guest on Sea Change Radio, Richard Heinberg, an author, a senior fellow at the Post-Carbon Institute and a leading environmentalist, fundamentally disagrees with many of Dr. Yergin’s ideas. And while both The Prize and The Quest are certainly recommended reading for Sea Change Radio listeners, Mr. Heinberg and host Alex Wise discuss why Dr. Yergin’s view of reality differs so greatly from his own.

In the Shadow of the Smokestacks (Part II): Richmond, CA

Last week on Sea Change Radio, we discussed the Chevron Refinery in Richmond, California, and the social movement that’s pushing back against one of the world’s largest corporations there. This week, we hear from Roger Kim, the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, a non-profit that enables disenfranchised communities to fight for social justice. Then, host Alex Wise talks with Greg Karras, a scientist from Communities for a Better Environment, about the adaptations oil refineries are making as we hit and pass peak oil and how these changes will affect the health of the planet.

Chris Martenson On The Reality Of Peak Oil

Author, economic analyst, scientist and futurist Chris Martenson has written and spoken extensively on key issues surrounding our energy-based economy. He appeared on this show four years ago – when high oil prices were making headlines. Those headlines have returned and we check back with Martenson today to get his take on how things have progressed or regressed in the fight for a clean energy future. A fellow at the post-Carbon institute, Martenson shares his thoughts with host Alex Wise on rising oil prices and the danger of ignoring the realities of peak oil.

An Eco-Literate Conversation With Richard Heinberg

This week on Sea Change Radio, host Alex Wise talks with Richard Heinberg, author and senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute who’s written extensively on energy, economic, and ecological issues. The last time he was a guest on this program, he described some of the fundamental problems surrounding our carbon-based economy outlined in his book, The End of Growth.  This week we welcome Mr. Heinberg back to the show as we discuss his latest article published in Energy Bulletin titled, What We Are For. In the next half hour, listen as Richard Heinberg gives us his thoughts on how to promote eco-literacy, why empowering women is good for the planet, and what environmentalists can learn from the Occupy Movement.

Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-CA) on Creating a Clean Energy Nation

This week on Sea Change Radio we hear from U.S. Congressman Jerry McNerney, representing California’s 11th District. In an earlier appearance on Sea Change Radio the Congressman shared his views on wind power but in today’s visit he talks about his new book, Clean Energy Nation. In his conversation with host Alex Wise, we explore how U.S. policies on peak oil, education, poverty and the expansive U.S. military will all play vital roles in determining this nation’s future. Are you wondering what’s it like to be a mathematician, engineer, and environmentalist and work side-by-side among climate-change denying House Representatives? Listen to our interview with Congressman McNerney to find out.

Vaclav Smil Part II

Last week on Sea Change Radio, we heard from renowned energy expert Vaclav Smil, as he spoke about his book, Energy Transitions, the future of electric vehicles and why he has largely avoided the media spotlight up to now. This week, the second part of host Alex Wise‘s discussion with Professor Smil, as they discuss the ins and outs of fossil fuel – from peak oil to the Alberta tar sands and natural gas fracking – as well as some possible ways to help solve America’s energy puzzle.

From Peak Everything to Resilient Communities

Richard Heinberg
Richard Heinberg
CWR co-hosts Bill Baue and Francesca Rheannon speak with peak oil expert Richard Heinberg, senior fellow at the Post Carbon Institute and author of The Party’s Over, Powerdown, The Oil Depletion Protocol, and, most recently, Peak Everything. CWR caught up with Heinberg during his northeast speaking tour, where he is addressing local officials in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts where Corporate Watchdog Radio originates. In the absence of federal leadership addressing climate change and peak oil, Heinberg has turned his attention to creating resilient communities, and he proposes 10 steps to create local disaster response plans to prepare for peak oil as well as environmental and economic collapse. While the data Heinberg presents paints a dire picture, he also advocates for hope and optimism as a strategic response to existing and impending crises.

RichardHeinberg.com

Post Carbon Institute

Coalition of Immokalee Workers Petitions Burger King for an Extra Penny a Pound for Tomatoes
JPMorgan Chase Aims for 20 Percent Carbon Reduction
Climate change could spark century long World War