Insights from our Editorial Team

The president's re-election now appears to have provided some needed clarity to questions about the direction national energy policy might take. Both the president and his opponent asserted that the 2012 election presented Americans with the clearest possible choice between two different philosophies of government, and the Democrats emerged the winners. But the election results also raised caution flags.

Electric cars are a wise investment not just for the American economy but also for the global environment, the White House says, adding that the nation spends trillions on the importation of oil. It acknowledges that the market for those vehicles is slow to develop, noting that there is a lack of infrastructure and that the cars are too expensive relative to the easy-to-fuel gasoline-powered cars.

Renewable Portfolio Standards are coming under attack. The latest locale is Kansas, where the Republican-led legislature says that green energy mandates are distorting markets. Policymakers are also threatening repeal, noting that the environmental community is blocking an advanced coal project there.

President Obama will not stray from his early promises to build green energy as the foundation from which this nation will grow a 21st Century economy. He said as much in his State of the Union address. But one component of his strategy was not mentioned -- using green banks to finance that expansion.