Michael Copley
Appearances
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-19-2025 2PM EDT
The EPA last year awarded nonprofits about $14 billion in grants to help pay for things like solar projects in low-income communities. Congress provided the money under the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed by former President Biden. Under President Trump, the EPA said it was canceling the agreements, based in part on concerns about waste, fraud, and abuse.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-19-2025 2PM EDT
However, Judge Tanya Chutkin said the EPA hasn't provided evidence of wrongdoing. As for comment, the EPA pointed to a social media post by Administrator Lee Zeldin saying he won't rest until the money is returned to the U.S. Treasury. Michael Copley, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-19-2025 2PM EDT
There's a lot of news happening. You want to understand it better, but let's be honest, you don't want it to be your entire life either. Well, that's sort of like our show, Here and Now Anytime. Every weekday on our podcast, we talk to people all over the country about everything from political analysis to climate resilience, video games. We even talk about dumpster diving on this show.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-19-2025 2PM EDT
Check out Here and Now Anytime, a daily podcast from NPR and WBUR.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-12-2024 7PM EST
The U.K. aims to cut heat-trapping emissions by 81 percent in the next decade compared to levels in 1990. Prime Minister Keir Starmer made the announcement at United Nations climate negotiations in Azerbaijan. Activists cheered the news, saying the U.K. is claiming a leadership role in global climate efforts. The U.K.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 11-12-2024 7PM EST
government also announced incentives to build up domestic supply chains for the offshore wind industry. Starmer said the U.K. aims to be a leader in what he called the economy of tomorrow. Michael Copley, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-18-2025 3PM EDT
Stanford climate research scholar Michael Wara says the question for lawmakers is whether that approach is sustainable or whether we need to be thinking about giving money back to people.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 02-18-2025 4AM EST
It's a mistake. It's symbolically a mistake. There should be talks with our... colleagues in Ukraine first, substantial talks, not just the kind of episodic conversations they've had, including in Munich. Second, we should talk to our European allies first, and then we should go to a meeting with the Russians with a consolidated, agreed position.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-30-2025 5PM EDT
For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-30-2025 5PM EDT
Two days after the 7.7 magnitude quake struck, rescue workers are frantically digging through the rubble, some by hand, to find survivors. Many rescuers complaining of a lack of heavy equipment and personnel as the smell of death begins to hang over parts of the city.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-30-2025 5PM EDT
Mandalay's airport remains closed, hampering relief efforts, with the UN warning of a severe shortage of medical supplies in a country whose public health system was already in tatters after four years of civil war following the 2021 coup. Myanmar's insular military rulers are allowing some aid in, with China and India the first to send supplies.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-29-2025 5PM EDT
We have three active fires going on in the state right now that fire, the Forestry Commission is still fighting.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-29-2025 5PM EDT
The first shipments of international aid arrived this morning at the airport in the former capital, Yangon. They came from neighboring China and from India, and included search and rescue and medical teams, as well as blankets and other provisions. But the epicenter of the quake was just outside Myanmar's second biggest city, Mandalay, some 360 miles to the north by road.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-29-2025 5PM EDT
The airport there remains closed. Rescue workers say their efforts have been stymied by a lack of equipment and personnel, with some resorting to digging with their hands. In neighboring Thailand, rescue workers used heavy equipment to try to rescue dozens of construction workers trapped in the rubble after a 33-story skyscraper under construction collapsed.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-10-2025 5PM EDT
energy industry. The American Petroleum Institute, an industry group, said it's disappointed by the Supreme Court decision, but that climate policy is an issue for Congress to debate, not the courts. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court turned down a request from oil companies to block a climate lawsuit in Hawaii. Michael Copley, NPR News.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 03-10-2025 5PM EDT
Lawsuits in various state courts allege the fossil fuel industry misled the public about the dangers its products pose to the Earth's climate. They're aimed at forcing companies to help pay for damages from more extreme storms, heat waves, and rising sea levels. A group of Republican attorneys general had argued the lawsuits threaten other states' sovereignty and the future of the U.S.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-09-2025 7PM EST
The U.S. created about as much climate pollution last year as it did the year before, as emissions rose from buildings, transportation and power plants. That's according to estimates by the Rhodium Group, a research firm. the U.S. will need to make much deeper cuts of more than 7% annually in the coming years to meet a commitment it made under the Paris Agreement to slash heat-trapping pollution.
NPR News Now
NPR News: 01-09-2025 7PM EST
The Rhodium Group says emissions have only fallen that much during recession, when the economy slows. last year was the hottest on record after global emissions rose to a new high in 2023. Michael Copley, NPR News.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
I've been here for an extradition hearing. It's for an Israeli private investigator who's accused by the U.S. of orchestrating a hacking operation against American climate activists. The privatized name is Amit Forlet. He was arrested earlier this year at London's Heathrow Airport. And we should say at the top, Forlet is previously denied ordering or paying for hacking.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
So a British lawyer representing the U.S. Justice Department said Forlet was allegedly working for an unnamed public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C., and that that firm was allegedly representing one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies based in Texas, again unnamed. The lawyer said the oil and gas company wanted to discredit activists connected to climate change litigation.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
government hasn't named the companies. No, it hasn't. We did hear from one of Forlet's lawyers this week. She said in court that the U.S. is trying to prosecute Forlet for leading a hacking operation that was allegedly commissioned by a public affairs firm called DCI Group that was representing ExxonMobil. The Justice Department didn't respond to a message seeking comment.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
It hasn't accused Exxon or DCI of wrongdoing. Exxon and DCI declined to comment on being mentioned in court before the hearing in London. Both said in emails to NPR that they haven't been involved in hacking.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
So there have been media reports stating that the U.S. has investigated DCI as part of its hacking probe. Before the London hearings, a source familiar with the probe confirmed to NPR that the U.S. has investigated DCI's possible role in the hacking. The source wasn't authorized to speak publicly.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
NPR hasn't found what, if any, links the Justice Department thought DCI may have had with the hacking campaign. And we have not found any indications that the Justice Department investigated Exxon Mobil. So it sounds like the government and journalists have been pursuing this hacking investigation for a while. Yeah, so the government investigation became public in 2019.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
A business associate of Forlitz was arrested in the U.S. He eventually pleaded guilty to hacking-related charges, and in 2023, a federal judge sentenced him to more than six years in prison. In that case, federal prosecutors said stolen information was leaked to the media and that ExxonMobil's lawyers used the media coverage to try to fight state climate investigations.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
Federal prosecutors did not accuse ExxonMobil of any wrongdoing. The company said at the time that it had not been involved in hacking. Okay, so where do things go from here? I mean, you know, it's been years since the hacking allegedly started, but the victims say it's critical for the U.S. to find out who ordered it. Matt Powell is one of the victims and an environmental lawyer.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
He says finding out what happened is important for punishing whoever was ultimately responsible.
Up First from NPR
Trump Visits Disaster Zones, DEI and the Military, London Hacking Hearing
For now, we're waiting to see if the UK extradites Forlet. Another extradition hearing is expected in the coming weeks.