President Obama’s first ad buy is one touting his energy policy (watch it here). The day after his decision to nix the Keystone XL pipeline and four months after Solyndra’s bankruptcy, it’s become clear that jobs is not the only issue Obama is worried about. Probably more than any time in history, clean energy is on trial in American politics. My hope is that Obama will get out ahead and frame clean energy in terms of national security. This won’t be easy since somehow whether we’re talking about an oil pipeline or a thin film solar manufacturer, the only lens anyone wants to look through is the “did it create jobs” lens. It’s short sited, particularly when building an independent and sustainable energy infrastructure requires long term investment.