Donald Trump publicly denies the reality of man-made global warming, or labels it a "Chinese plot" to dominate manufacturing.  But Trump administration report not on expects the earth to warm, but says it will do so at truly horrific levels.

Slipping under the radar during the daily Trumpian chaos, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) the planet will warm a disastrous seven degrees Fahrenheit (about four degrees Celsius) above pre-industrial levels by the end of this century.  That is way beyond limits specified by the Paris Climate Accord, in which world leaders agreed to try to keep Global Warming below 2 C degrees.

A rise of seven degrees will turn vast parts of Earth into a hellscape:  Runaway heat waves would be common; parts of planet would be uninhabitable; forget about coral reefs, they'd dissolve in the warmer, more acidic oceans; low-lying cities would be underwater.

The report doesn't offer these predictions with a plea to change human behavior and avoid this fate.  Instead, it assumes this sort of global warming is inevitable, and therefore the US shouldn't bother to order automakers to increase fuel economy and carbon emission standards. 

"The amazing thing they're saying is human activities are going to lead to this rise of carbon dioxide that is disastrous for the environment and society," said Michael MacCracken, who served as a senior scientist at the US. Global Change Research Program from 1993 to 2002.  "And then they’re saying they're not going to do anything about it."

This plan would put another eight billion tons of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere this century.  Other Trump proposals include:  Extending the service lives of aging coal plants; allowing oil and gas operations to release more methane into the atmosphere; and preventing new curbs on greenhouse gases used in refrigerators and air conditioning units.