First the good news: Science may no longer be the greatest casualty in Donald Trump's war on truth, as his official position on climate change has made a tangible shift from "Chinese hoax" and "nonsense."

The bad news is that while his administration now acknowledges the reality of climate change, his policy is essentially this: The planet's screwed, so let's feel free to burn as much fossil fuel as we can.

That is the message contained within an environmental impact statement drafted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which was written to justify Trump's recent decision to freeze fuel efficiency standards on cars and light trucks.

The Washington Post found it buried on Page 191 of a 500-page report: At the current pace, the planet will warm by 4 degrees Celsius (7 Fahrenheit) by 2100, which scientists assert will be catastrophic, so the report concludes that there is no point in trying to prevent it.

"The emissions reductions necessary to keep global emissions within this carbon budget could not be achieved solely with drastic reductions in emissions from the U.S. car and light truck vehicle fleet," said the NHTSA, adding that the only significant change can come by a "move away from the use of fossil fuels," which is "not currently technologically feasible or economically practicable."

Behold: Defeatism is the new denial.

This might be a good time for your grandkids to invest in life jackets and hazmat suits.

This is their government saying that it has no interest in saving the planet, so future generations are just going to have to suck it up.

It's not like we haven't been forewarned of this global cataclysm, of course. Almost daily, we get more feedback about the planet's current trajectory. Al Gore, the Cassandra in this old story, put it this way: "Every night on the TV is like a nature hike through the Book of Revelation."

But when a nihilistic government publicly admits that the biosphere is so degraded that no human activity will halt runaway climate change -- and then shrugs its shoulders at the impending calamity -- that's a tipping point that deserves greater attention.

"This is the same logic as, 'I'm going to die anyway, so eating fast food for every meal won't make a difference,'" Rep. Frank Pallone, D-6th Dist., said Monday. "In the face of insurmountable evidence, this toxic administration once again chooses corporate profits over our children's future."

In many ways, it's worse than the standard wingnut denialism, because this is an area where America can show it still bestrides the world like a colossus.

As the rest of the world commits to limiting the global temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial era, Trump has pulled out of the Paris Accord, begun a repeal of the Clean Power Plan, brought coal plants back from the grave, rolled back emissions standards, and thinks vehicles should pour 8 billion more tons of carbon into the atmosphere because the glaciers are melting and cities are drowning anyway.

It is morally indefensible. A real American leader would understand that a demonstration of global power doesn't always mean flaunting military and economic might. It can also take the form of leading the rest of the world toward a greener future. If only.

Instead, we are careening and gasping toward disaster, as the official U.S. policy is to leave a charred hellscape, crafted by an emperor without clothes who will jeopardize life itself for the political present. At least now he admits it.

We should be focused on magnificently clean and healthy air and not distracted by the expensive hoax that is global warming! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 6, 2013

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