Trump escalates climate rollback: cuts green climate fund, dismantles EPA office

New blows dealt to the fight against the climate crisis by the United States: the Trump administration has officially canceled 4 billion dollars in funding intended for the Green Climate Fund, the main global climate fund of the United Nations

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During his very first day in office, the billionaire did not lose any time and signed nine executive orders aimed at starting the rollback of climate action. They include blocking renewable energy, opening protected lands to drilling, mining, and logging, and canceling all federal environmental justice initiatives.

Furthermore, Trump declared an “energy emergency” — even though U.S. oil and gas production hit a record world high — to bypass environmental protections for fossil fuel development projects. His administration also made a second announcement of withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and proposed redefining “energy resources” to exclude solar and wind, as outlined in Project 2025.

Green climate fund: U.S. commitments canceled

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is a vital project helping over 100 countries develop adaptation and mitigation strategies to combat climate change. In a formal notice to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, however, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the cancellation of all United States financial commitments to the fund.

This decision jeopardizes the ecological transformation of vulnerable countries that rely on U.S. funding for green infrastructure, renewable energy investments, and protections against climate impacts. It is also a crushing setback for the Paris Agreement and for global climate action.

EPA’s environmental justice office disbanded

The New York Times reports that another pillar of United States environmental protection is being dismantled: the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Environmental Justice. The office was tasked with safeguarding communities, including ethnic minorities and poor populations, from environmental harm and pollution.

The closure, as the first step to eradicate all federal environmental justice programs, is in line with Trump’s executive order to roll back environmental regulations and reduce federal role in protecting pollution-affected communities.

A dangerous trajectory: U.S. withdraws from key global agreements

On top of cutting funds to the Green Climate Fund and eliminating environmental justice protections, Trump’s presidency has sped up American isolation on global sustainability policy. The U.S. has now pulled out of the World Health Organization (WHO), the OECD global tax agreement, and the Paris Climate Accord.

Each of these actions represents a strategic withdrawal from multilateral approaches to public health and environmental protection, and it has prompted concern among specialists for the future of international efforts to combat climate change.

As the Green Climate Fund is deprived of critical support and environmental justice efforts are attacked, the outlook is grim: the U.S. is poised to undermine global efforts to preserve the planet.

Chinese firm unveils supersonic drone reaching mach 4.2

China unveils supersonic drone capable of flying at Mach 4.2, paving the way for a revolutionary airliner: by 2030, we could travel from Paris to Shanghai in just two hours

China’s Lingkong Tianxing Technology, also known as Space Transportation globally, unveiled a prototype model of a supersonic drone capable of flying at Mach 4.2 (approximately 3,194 mph). The Cuantianhou plane is a significant step toward the development of a supersonic passenger plane, with the first flight aimed for 2030. The firm announced this during a press conference in China’s Sichuan province.

Cuantianhou: twice the speed of the concorde

The Cuantianhou is claimed to have an amazing performance, flying twice as fast as the Concorde. The 23-foot-long drone, weighing approximately 3,300 lbs, is powered by two detonation engines. According to the South China Morning Post, the first test flight is scheduled within a year.

The long-term vision of Space Transportation goes further than this prototype: the company will develop a supersonic passenger plane named Da Sheng, which might be in service by 2030. This innovation has the potential to revolutionize air travel, bringing the Paris–Shanghai flight route down to just two hours.

Military technology enhances aerodynamics and efficiency

The Cuantianhou project utilizes military-grade technologies. The Cuantianhou is designed with an optimized aerodynamic profile with an improved angle of attack and the removal of the front lift surface, enhancing flight efficiency over its predecessor, the Yunxing drone.

At the prototype reveal, the company also rolled out an improved version of its detonation engine, the Jindou-400S. Weighing in at only 220 lbs—three times less than the initial 660-lb engine—the engine offers increased thrust: 4,000 Newtons, compared with the previous Jindou-400’s 2,500 Newtons. The length of the engine has also been reduced by nearly 6.5 feet, with more compactness and efficiency.

Among the most innovative aspects of the Jindou-400S is a controlled detonation combustion system, a state-of-the-art technology that is built to achieve optimum energy efficiency. Thanks to this innovation, the new engine operates at speeds of up to Mach 4.2 while significantly reducing fuel consumption compared to traditional engines.

With these innovations, Lingkong Tianxing Technology is poised to be a leader in this new supersonic flight era. If the tests prove to be successful, intercontinental travel in just a few hours could be a reality in the near future.