Mitt Romney isn't famous for taking political risks, so it was notable and welcome on Monday when he came out against subsidies for wind power. If that doesn't sound like stop-the-presses news, remember that Republicans aren't really as implacably opposed to energy handouts as both Democrats and Republicans want the public to believe.

So from the top: The wind industry more or less exists at the pleasure of politics, specifically because of a federal subsidy known as the production tax credit that provides developers with...