Hastily conceived panel discussions are seldom a good idea, yet that’s precisely what the Brookings Institute rushed into following President Trump’s Rose Garden address last week announcing the withdrawal of the world’s largest economy from the Paris climate agreement.

One appreciates an attempt to conduct a timely dialogue on an issue of public importance but when the panel consists of political pundits with narrow fields of expertise, ginned up by a strong sense of moral grievance, the inclination to overreach appears to overwhelm better judgment.