Society

Fake shopping apps, anti-vaxx dating sites and business as usual through climate disasters are stark reminders of the surreal lengths we’ll go to preserve a sense of normality, and how readily corporations will profit from it.

Richard’s writing never minimized the severity of the challenges before us, but neither did it surrender to hopelessness. Again and again, he insisted that another path could be imagined and designed—one based on ecological understanding, community-based economics, and a renewed culture of commoning.

On Sunday, July 19, we lost our kind, brilliant friend and colleague, Richard Heinberg. 

I’ll never forget it. My family and I had just arrived in San Francisco in 2024 to begin a long tour with my podcast. I immediately reached out to Richard and was welcomed with the kindness that characterised him as much as his work.

I feel so deeply grateful to have known him, and for the support and enthusiasm he showed for the Transition movement as it emerged. He was a sensitive and thoughtful man who knew that human beings could do so much better.

If collective survival is possible, there will be a lot of work ahead. We’ll be more effective in that work if we’re unburdened by hate and recrimination, and are instead rooted in gratitude for life, nature, and community.