With the addition of a new Ph.D. program in wind energy science, engineering and policy last month, top administrators at Iowa State now need to jump into the political fray surrounding the extension of federal tax credits for wind energy production.

The tax credit that keeps the wind energy industry going by subsidizing wind power at a rate of 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour and costs about $1 billion annually — even as it faces stiff competition from fossil fuels and foreign manufacturers — is set to expire on Dec. 31.

Comments about partisan gridlock on tax breaks aside, the future of this one is in doubt no matter what the current Congress decides. An election less than five weeks from now could change not only which party controls Congress but also which party has its candidate in the White House as president. To date, congressional practice with the tax credit has failed to inspire much confidence that we are serious as a nation about developing and using this kind of renewable energy — the credit has been renewed most often only for one- or two-year periods.

The Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency, Mitt Romney, is against continuing the tax break. An analyst who appeared on NPR said: “Gov. Romney says he’ll let the tax credit expire if elected president. He wants to remove regulatory barriers, support free enterprise and market-based competition. The idea is for wind energy to fail or thrive on its own without tax dollars.”

Exposing the wind energy industry’s future to the unrepentant forces of the economy, however, makes its future even more uncertain and the timing of the ISU Faculty Senate’s program approval seem like a poorly timed idea.

Only a couple weeks ago, wind energy-related manufacturing in Iowa took a serious hit. For example, Siemens “notified Fort Madison that it will lay off 407 of the 660 workers at the blade manufacturing plant” there. That is a large number of workers, and a huge percentage of that factory’s total. However, the layoff was not completely unexpected. According to The Des Moines Register, Harold Prior, president of the Iowa Wind Energy Association, said: “We said this would happen, and there likely will be more layoffs if the production tax credit isn’t renewed.”

The New York Times has reported that, after the wind energy industry peaked in 2008-09, some 10,000 of the 85,000 workers then engaged in that sector lost their jobs. Further, according to an estimate cited by The Wall Street Journal, some 37,000 of the 75,000 jobs remaining could be lost due to the tax credit’s disappearance.

Investing in a new doctorate-level program in wind energy, especially when it is justified on the basis of its potential economic benefit, ought to take into account such facts as these. Lobby away, Iowa State.