Insights from our Editorial Team

Wind energy just got a nice bump. It came after a key federal agency authorized a project funded in part by Google to lay the groundwork for an underwater power line. The off-shore wind deal, known as the Atlantic Wind Connection, could start putting steel in the ocean by 2014.

Despite the lethargic economy and slow demand growth, public service commissioners in the United States aren't holding utilities back from making investments -- and in some cases they are encouraging them to invest more in their states. But the commissions are being extra diligent in asking the utilities to prove a project's economic worthiness and, in turn, are trying to better convey to ratepayers why the investments are necessary.

After the BP oil spill, the White House did the right thing by banning future exploration until it could get a handle on what had just happened. Now, it is trying to resurrect a policy that was in the works prior to the accident. Its apparent decision to allow Shell to drill off the Alaskan coastline is a manifestation of that strategy that may also have political benefits for the president.

Both manufacturers and environmentalists are now left “scratching their heads” after the Obama administration has proposed new shale gas rules. Some businesses are befuddled why this kind of oversight is not left exclusively to the states while all greenies want to know why certain drillers are opposed to federal standards.