About the Initiative for Energy Justice

The Initiative for Energy Justice was founded in 2018 by three lawyers of color entrenched in the debates concerning the nation’s transition away from fossil fuels and an extractive economy towards an equitable and renewable energy future. The co-founders brought together their direct connections to communities working for a just transition, and their experiences in three jurisdictions at the front edge of the energy transition – Hawaii, California, and New York.

Our core values are voice, inclusion, and equity. The unique voices of frontline communities and communities of color must be included in the transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.  Equity must form the core of this transition, given the burdens borne by frontline communities under the energy system. These values form the fabric of the Initiative for Energy Justice. They are why we do this work. They inform our approach to the work and support our mission to provide energy policy tools rooted in equity to the leaders and communities who need them most.

Mission & Vision

IEJ conducts research, provides policy analysis, and facilitates dialogue to advance concrete policy pathways towards energy justice. We partner with frontline organizing groups and allies who are striving for universal access to affordable, renewable, and democratically managed energy.

Policy makers around the United States seek to increase the penetration of renewables on the electricity grid, but they often lack clear policy guidance on how to design and implement energy policy that places equity at the center of policy design, rather than as an ancillary concern considered after the fact. Similarly, traditional frontline social justice and civil rights organizations have found themselves at the center of debates concerning renewable energy policy, but often lack the technical assistance and tools to participate fully in the emerging debates concerning the energy transition.

The Initiative for Energy Justice aims to:

(1) contribute to a bottom-up movement of energy justice, originating in frontline communities, by arming movement and base-building organizations in environmental, racial, and economic justice spaces with well-supported policy research for operationalizing a just transition to renewable energy; and

(2) provide policymakers with concrete energy policy frameworks and best-practice tools that foreground equity in the transition to renewable energy, drawing on the best-available data collected from frontline advocates, existing energy policies, and frameworks designed by our team.

You can view a one-page summary of our long-term vision and theory of change here.

Who We Serve

Our initiative aims to offer concrete energy policy solutions focused on equity, in order to advance a Just Transition and build power for marginalized communities, particularly frontline communities and communities of color. As such, we are guided by foundational movement principles, such as the Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing. We plan to coordinate with, support, and not duplicate the important work of advocates in this sector. This includes local, state, regional, and national environmental justice and racial equity-focused organizations, as well as renewable energy groups and coalitions that are either already centering equity in the work or increasingly looking to ground their work in equity.

We also seek to address a current unmet need by supporting local and state policymakers in thinking about and incorporating equity considerations in energy policy. Increasingly, more municipalities and states are undertaking substantial regulatory reform in the energy sector. We expect this trend to continue. The need for tools and trainings focused on equity will become critical as we shape the next generation of energy infrastructure and delivery.