Governor Bill Ritter has made a big deal of new “green jobs” in Colorado, which the state has subsidized without regard to the economics of businesses like those that make wind-turbines that generate electricity on wind farms.

Now the smart criminal lawyer and former district attorney is learning a little about economics. When products don’t sell, companies lay off workers even if they’ve been started with financial help from Colorado’s taxpayers. Take Vestas, for example. The wind turbine maker has furloughed most of its 500 employees at its Windsor plant, and has frozen hiring for two new plants that are under construction in Brighton. The company says these are temporary setbacks, but only time will tell. It’s better to make Colorado a good place for all businesses to thrive instead of subsidizing individual companies that can run into hard times without notice.