Questions of Distributive Justice

Technically produced energy is a “basic resource”: a supply of cheap and safe energy is indispensable for mankind to maintain physical subsistence. Energy is needed to process and provide drinking water and sufficient food. Large parts of the world would not be habitable without a constant flow of energy to heat or cool the living environment. Technically generated energy is an essential prerequisite for transport and communication and thus the basis for the creation and preservation of prosperity by division of labor, specialization, and participation in markets and society.