Summer 2015 145 145 A new conceptual framework, “energy justice,” provides a more comprehensive and, po- tentially, better way to assess and resolve energy-related dilemmas. This new framework of energy justice builds on four fundamental assumptions and consists of two key principles: a prohibitive principle which states that “energy systems must be designed and constructed in such a way that they do not unduly interfere with the ability of people to acquire those basic goods to which they are justly entitled,” and an affrmative principle which states that “if any of the basic goods to which people are justly entitled can only be secured by means of energy services, then in that case there is also a derivative entitlement to the energy services.” These two principles are premised on the notion that energy serves as a material prerequisite for many of the basic goods to which people are entitled. They also recognize that the externalities associated with energy systems often interfere with the enjoyment of such fundamental goods as security and welfare. They acknowledge that the structuring of energy systems has profound ramifcations for human societies, providing historically unprecedented benefts for some, and taking from others the possibility of living a life of basic human dignity. Making the Ethical and Philosophical Case for “Energy Justice” Benjamin R. Jones, Benjamin K. Sovacool, and Roman V. Sidortsov* * Benjamin R. Jones, Faculty of Law, University of Victoria, 3800 Finnerty Road, Victoria BC V8P 5C2, Canada; Benjamin K. Sovacool, Department of Business Development and Technology, Aarhus University, Birk Centerpark 15, Building 8001, Room 1303, 7400 Herning, Denmark; Roman V. Sidortsov, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, Lensfeld Road, Cambridge CB2 1ER, England. Jones is a doctoral candidate at the University of Victoria and a Senior Global Energy Fellow at the Institute of Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School. Sovacool is Director of the Danish Center for Energy Technologies at AU-Herning and a Professor of Business and Social Sciences at Aarhus University in Denmark. He is also Associate Professor of Law at Vermont Law School and Director of the Energy Security and Justice Program at their Institute for Energy and the Environment. Sidortsov is a doctoral researcher at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge University, United Kingdom and also a Senior Global Energy Fellow at the Institute of Energy and the Environment at Vermont Law School. The arguments presented in this paper draw on a book written by the authors entitled Energy Security, Equality, and Justice (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2014). I. INTRODUCTION What does it mean to speak of energy justice? When headlines about global warming, atmospheric pollution, and energy-related catastrophes such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the Fukushima nuclear disaster are regular fare in newspapers, the connection between energy and justice appears somewhat obvious. Yet policymakers, practitioners, and investors within the energy sector continue to base decisions about energy production, generation, and distribution almost entirely