Green Electricity Costs a Bundle

The global discussion about climate change has become quite hysterical. Some 60 percent of people living in the rich world think it is likely to bring an end to humanity. This is not only untrue; it is also harmful, because fear makes people embrace bad policies and ignore many other urgent challenges facing the world.

Bangladesh halved its poverty rate and grew its economy by as much as 7% in recent years. Yet many challenges remain, from malnourishment in rural districts to air pollution in the capital Dhaka. To help the government tackle the nation’s biggest problems, the Bangladesh Priorities Project asked scores of economists how best to respond.

Politicians at the Glasgow climate conference seem to be competing to come up with the most outrageously dire forecast. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called global warming “a doomsday device,” while United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that humans are “killing ourselves with carbon.” They both get points for alliteration,...