The data center drama continues in Denver. You might have heard the city is poised to enact a moratorium on the facilities. But residents want construction halted on a facility next door to a park and an affordable housing complex. denverite.com/2026/02/25/d...

Emergency radio communications indicate first responders are on the scene and responding to the fire.

Y'all, OG Purplish host @sambrasch.bsky.social returns to Purplish this week to dig into data centers and the competing visions for them at the State Capitol this session. He's joined by @taydolven.bsky.social of @coloradosun.com and KUNC's @lucasbradywoods.bsky.social 🎧 www.cpr.org/podcast-epis...

It's mind-boggling until you remember Polis' family built their fortune in e-greeting cards.

NEW: There's been another round of layoffs at the lab formerly known as NREL. Weeks after scrubbing “renewable energy” from its name, the National Laboratory of the Rockies in Golden has cut 134 staffers. www.cpr.org/2026/02/09/n...

Don was taken into custody by federal agents last night in Los Angeles.

You work in a newsroom long enough and your heart hardens a little bit, even if you don't want it to. Pieces like this break it back open. www.theverge.com/policy/86856...

The NSF just released a "dear colleague" asking for ideas to inform its plans to restructure the National Center for Atmospheric Research. This includes proposals to repurpose NCAR's Mesa Lab, an architectural icon below the Boulder Flatirons, for "private use."

Colorado lawmakers brace for their biggest battle yet over AI data centers www.cpr.org/2026/01/20/c... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

Breaking: President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act allowing him to deploy troops as protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement persist in Minneapolis.

Gov. Polis on Venezuela:

Many other reporters are ahead of me of this story, but some critical local context: Rep @joeneguse.bsky.social thinks dismantling NCAR is partially motivated "by a desire to retaliate against CO" for refusing to release former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. www.cpr.org/2025/12/17/t...

The White House promises to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research www.cpr.org/2025/12/17/t... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

NCAR once represented a commitment to make U S. the world's leader in atmospheric science. Now the White House has announced plans to disband it — hours before it will likely lose power to prevent wildfires on another extremely dry, hot, windy day around Boulder.

After Colorado started reintroducing moose in 1978, the species is thriving statewide. Ecologist also suspect the ungainly ungulates are behind a collapse of willow habitats in Rocky Mountain National Park. www.cpr.org/2025/12/08/c...

Trump administration renames Colorado’s National Renewable Energy Lab: the National Lab of the Rockies www.cpr.org/2025/12/01/n... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

Faith Winter is why Colorado has a paid family leave program. My enduring memory: breaking the news to her that the AP had called it and the measure had passed, five years ago this month. She was killed in a car crash today. I wish her loved ones solace and comfort. coloradosun.com/2025/11/26/f...

Surveillance in action: "You know we have cameras in that jurisdiction and you can’t get a breath of fresh air, in or out of that place, without us knowing, correct?” denverite.com/2025/10/27/b...

(1/x) This Denver woman found a police officer from a neighboring town on her doorstop. He was there b/c someone had stolen a $25 package, and Flock cameras put her in the vicinity. He was convinced she was guilty. But the evidence points to her innocence. denverite.com/2025/10/27/b...

“A motive has not been determined, though queer-owned businesses say they are on edge and are well aware of the pattern.” denverite.com/2025/10/27/d...

The AI boom isn't just a massive drain on water and electricity. In north Denver, local residents worry future data center could be the area's latest air pollution source. My latest: www.cpr.org/2025/10/14/a...

This story was inspired by a conversation with a fossil fuel exec in Paris a few days after the big outage in Spain. He blamed too much renewable energy as the cause. Was that really it? Turns out: No. @npr.org takes you through a new report on what happened + impacts of renewable misinformation.

Aspiration Inc. is at the center of the alleged $28M no-show gig for LA Clippers star Kawhi Leonard. Back in 2021, years before Aspiration went bankrupt, @propublica.org revealed how the company appeared to inflate claims about the many millions of trees it had planted.

Colorado red-hot EV market is burning bright before it fades away. Here's my report from hanging out at dealerships before federal EV tax credits expire at the end of the month. CO's generous incentives are also on steep, downward trajectory. www.cpr.org/2025/09/03/s...

This isn't happening because public media is irrelevant in the digital age. It's happening because PBS and NPR offer free news and educational programming--and keep finding ways to do it despite a shifting media landscape. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/b...

Trump’s EPA moves to reject key portions of a Colorado plan to close coal-fired power plants www.cpr.org/2025/07/16/e... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

Current and former federal workers, we want to hear from you! Have you been let go? Did you take an offer? Are you left with fewer colleagues and more responsibility? Fill out our survey. We won't publish w/o your permission. You can also be anonymous:

Absolutely terrifying! www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/int...

Because tense city council meetings are somehow a new thing in...Boulder? This whole NYT article trying to connect the dots between the horrible tragedy on Sunday and local Boulder politics is really reaching.

An underappreciated aspect of the new WMO report -- if the temperature predictions are correct, the world will pass 1.5C in as a long-term average (i.e., the _actual_ Paris goal) in 2027. In just two years. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

A really horrifying @samtabachnik.bsky.social story about the death of a 7-year-old adopted son of a Granby police officer and a pledge by some in power to ensure the case was tossed aside. www.denverpost.com/2025/05/15/i...

If anyone in Colorado has experienced something similar, please let me know.

One day in March, people claiming to be FBI agents knocked on the doors of 6 local climate activists. No one knows why they came, or if they were real agents, but many worry it's an intimidation tactic. Great story from @moranwriter.bsky.social www.wbur.org/news/2025/05...

Don’t call it ‘climate denial,’ Secretary of Energy Chris Wright claims he’s preaching ‘climate realism’ -- nice reporting here from @cprnews.bsky.social's @sambrasch.bsky.social www.cpr.org/2025/05/05/c...

Another story from Hotspots, our on-going series about communities leading Colorado's geothermal energy boom. This one really brings it home. Across the state, more homeowners and homebuilders are turning to ground-source heat pumps for heating and cooling. www.cpr.org/2025/04/24/c...

It's fascinating how Sec. of Energy Chris Wright uses Denver's success in dealing with its "brown cloud" as a national example. What he leaves out: the metro area has seen big PM improvements, but its ozone issue has gotten worse due, in part, to oil and gas. www.foxnews.com/video/637176...

Behold the power of dirt cheap leases and probably some political misgivings about Tesla. Nissan is now the #1 EV brand in CO.

Curious if Sen. Michael Bennet's support of Energy Sec. Chris Wright will shape the D primary for CO Gov Wright has repeatedly tried to reframe climate change as a good thing. Before voting to confirm him, Bennet praised his "deep expertise in energy innovation." www.axios.com/local/denver...

BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency. Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.

CPR loses a real one today. @startribune.com, cherish this man and give him a premium bus pass.

NOW: EPA Region 8 staff organized by AFGE Local 3607 rallying in defense of their jobs after President Trump promised broad layoffs at the agency.

Here's why hot spring operators are getting worried about a potential geothermal energy rush in Colorado: www.cpr.org/2025/03/21/h...

Someone egged a cybertruck in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and wrote “nazi” and drew swastikas on it

This could be such a great addition to southwest Denver, but sandwiching an outdoor soccer stadium between two major urban highways seems like an air quality disaster. denverite.com/2025/03/18/d...

It looks like CO's nuclear debate is heating gup. A coalition of environmental groups is calling on Gov. Polis to veto HB25-1040, which would classify nuclear as a "clean" energy resource in Colorado. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

NEW: Nuclear is set to be reclassified as a "clean" energy resource under a bill overwhelmingly passed by Colorado lawmakers last week. Business interests + unions + big utilities backed the legislation. www.cpr.org/2025/03/17/l...

Trump may have gotten himself a nice new Model S, but his administration isn't interested in buying EVs for federal workers or even maintaining all EV chargers on federal property. www.npr.org/2025/03/12/n...

What's wild is the exact same scientists who originally warned the world about the risks of nuclear winter were at the forefront of modeling climate change. www.cpr.org/2020/01/09/a...

A Colorado biologist led federal efforts to save endangered black-footed ferrets. Trump fired her last month www.cpr.org/2025/03/05/t... via @sambrasch.bsky.social #copolitics

NEW: Black-footed ferrets were saved by a federal breeding program centered around Colorado. It was led by Tina Jackson — a USFWS biologist fired by DOGE last month. She's now worried staff and funding cuts could drag the species back to the brink of extinction. www.cpr.org/2025/03/05/t...