Author Archives: Harry Katz
Utah and Four Corners Road Trip 2025
My wife and I recently finished a wonder-filled twelve-day road trip through Utah and the Four Corners region of the US Southwest. This is an incredible part of the country, and I wanted to share some of our experiences and a tiny sample of our photos. Continue reading
The Fifth Season
The Fifth Season takes place on a geologically unstable world where there’s a catastrophic “fifth season” of eruptions and earthquakes every few hundred years. It tells the story of one woman’s quest to find her abducted daughter during an especially destructive season. Rich, vivid and highly inventive. Continue reading
Is a River Alive?
In this fabulously written book, Robert Macfarlane journeys to rivers in three very different landscapes — the cloud-forests of Ecuador, the city of Chennai, India, and the wilderness of northern Quebec — seeking answers to the question are rivers alive and what would it mean if they were? Continue reading
My Testimony at the EPA
The EPA is holding virtual public hearings this week on its proposal to rescind the 2009 finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger public health and welfare. If they get away with it, this will gut most greenhouse gas regulations in the US. Here’s what I said to them. Continue reading
The Simple Path to Wealth
Many people aspire to financial freedom. Few actually achieve it. In The Simple Path to Wealth, JL Collins lays out a roadmap to financial independence. Whether you want to retire comfortably or just build up some “F-You Money,” The Simple Path to Wealth can show you how. Continue reading
The EPA’s “Dagger to the Heart” of US Climate Regulation
On August 1, 2025, the US Environmental Protection Agency announced it was proposing to reconsider its 2009 endangerment finding about greenhouse gas emissions. “Reconsidering” here means rescind, revoke, roll back. In this post I look at why this action is a dagger to the heart of greenhouse gas regulation. Continue reading
The Coming Wave
AI and biotechnology could solve humanity’s toughest problems — or trigger chaos, collapse, and dystopia. Mustafa Suleyman’s The Coming Wave warns we’re not ready. Can we contain what we’ve unleashed? This thoughtful book explores the risks, contradictions, and urgent questions posed by tomorrow’s most powerful technologies. Continue reading
Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change
There was a small glimmer of good news on climate change last week: The International Court of Justice ruled that nation states have legal obligations under climate treaties and customary international law to protect “the climate system and other parts of the environment from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions.” Continue reading
Nexus
Why are humans so good at acquiring information and power but not wisdom? In Nexus, Yuval Noah Harari explores how human information networks enable large numbers of people to cooperate over great distances and how those networks often prioritize order over truth and wisdom. AI could make matters even worse. Continue reading
The Trees Are Speaking
The Trees Are Speaking is a wonderful book about the old-growth salmon forests of Oregon, Washington, Vancouver Island and Maine and about the people trying save them. It explores the beautiful yet surprising connection between trees and salmon that sustains these forests and may very well help sustain us too. Continue reading
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