7/30/25 Blog: We've Got Weather, Immigration Reform, And EPA Fixing CO2

WEATHER WEDNESDAY AT 12:30 Where we get to ask Fox 31 Chief Meteorologist Dave Fraser about what's coming next and your weather questions.

THE EPA SAYS CO2 ISN'T BAD AT ALL The EPA Endangerment Finding on CO2 upended bad science as we know it. They made one of the most common gases on the planet into a pollutant with the stroke of a pen and that lead to a TRILLION dollars worth of new regulations and the idiotic electric vehicle mandates that are costing car makers a fortune as they try to force cars we don't want down our throats. Now the EPA under Lee Zeldin's guidance has reversed that finding. From the EPA Press Release:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin released the agency’s proposal to rescind the 2009 Endangerment Finding, which has been used to justify over $1 trillion in regulations, including the Biden-Harris Administration’s electric vehicle (EV) mandate. If finalized, the proposal would repeal all resulting greenhouse gas emissions regulations for motor vehicles and engines, thereby reinstating consumer choice and giving Americans the ability to purchase a safe and affordable car for their family while decreasing the cost of living on all products that trucks deliver. 

...

EPA’s proposal also cites updated scientific data that challenge the assumptions behind the 2009 Endangerment Finding. Cited data includes the updated studies and information in the Department of Energy’s 2025 Climate Work Group study that is concurrently being released for public comment. 

And what does that new report say? You can read it here, or you can read Dr. Matthew Wielicki's column about the situation here. You should subscribe to his Substack, it's very good. He joins me at 1pm to discuss the implications.

WELD COUNTY COMMISSIONER SCOTT JAMES IS ON BOARD WITH THE DIGNITY ACT I like Scott James, he's a straight up sort of fella. So when I saw he has been writing about the DIGNITY Act championed by Rep. Gabe Evans I was pleasantly surprised to see his full throated support for the plan in columns like this one. He makes a great case that THIS IS the conservative immigration reform bill. He's not wrong and he joins me at 2:30 to talk about it.

REP. RON WEINBERG SEEMS TO HAVE ISSUES I have never had anyone tell me anything good about Rep. Ron Weinberg. And that's from Republicans. One of my friends called him a "first class a**hole". Now the cat is out of the bag and he's not going to skate by I hope. The Denver Post did actual journalism where they hold public figures to account (unlike what they are trying to do with @DoBetterDNVR) and that's good. Read their article about his boorish and rude behavior here. I happened to see a column on Scott James's blog about him too, and it's not flattering but on brand for what I've heard. There is a zero percent chance he should be considered for a leadership position and what the heck is his wife doing? Just asking.

OUR ROADS ARE HORRIBLE BY DESIGN This column lays out all the ways that our Democratic overlords have made driving in Colorado not just miserable, but more expensive even though a majority of our roads are in terrible shape. This is my favorite part:

In 2021, the Democrat-controlled legislature passed a $5.4 billion package of new “fees” — including a yearly increase in fuel taxes plus that irritating 29-cent charge only Coloradans pay on orders from Amazon — to boost the transportation budget. The problem is most of that money isn’t spent to build or repair our highways.

“The state now takes transportation-related fees and directs them toward environmental mitigation, mass transit, and demand management efforts rather than infrastructure,” according to a study by the Common Sense institute that pierced the thick veil of obfuscation that is Colorado’s transportation budget.

Bottom line: We pay more for fuel, license plates, home delivery and ride sharing, but the Colorado Transportation Commission uses that money to try to convince us to drive less, or ride buses, trains and bicycles, while they make driving in Colorado a miserable experience.

It's a feature, not a bug! We were lied to...again. Until Coloradans vote differently nothing will change because current leadership doesn't care. They really, truly, don't care.

PHIL WEISER JOINS THE IDIOTIC PLANNED PARENTHOOD LAWSUIT The Attorney General's office put out a statement that said:

“The Defund Provision cuts Planned Parenthood—an essential health care provider—from Medicaid, leaving many patients without options to receive critical health care services," the Attorney General’s Office said in announcing the latest lawsuit challenging Trump administration policies. “Coloradans continually have made it clear that they support reproductive health care and we are suing the administration to stop it from implementing the provision and leaving states with higher costs for care in the long-term.”

Except this was a spending bill PASSED BY CONGRESS as they are constitutionally ordered to do. This lawsuit has zero legs and it yet another chance for Phil Weiser to try and up his name recognition with ignorant Democrat voters who only care about being able to kill babies with reckless abandon. I fully expect the Supreme Court to smack down the idiot judge who tried to put an injunction on cuts to Planned Parenthood. Find that in the Constitution, I dare you.

HAVE YOU WATCHED KPOP DEMON HUNTERS YET? Having kids helps keep you up to date with all the latest pop culture because when you kid says, "hey, will you watch this movie with me" you say yes because they are 16 and don't seem to like you very much. So that is how I came to watch KPop Demon Hunters. Trailer below.

Why am I making you watch it? Because it was surprisingly good and I'm not the only one who thinks so. The first bit is drivel but it gets much better.

CPW IS KILLING SOME WOLVES Because entirely predictably they are killing livestock. Who saw this coming?

DENVER'S LAYOFFS START AUGUST 18TH As Denver tries to fill a $200 million dollar hole created by horrible fiscal management. But the EAT LESS MEAT campaign and ebike rebates are still going strong!

THE EPSTEIN JAIL VIDEO IS SUSPICIOUS Remember the days before the internet when the government could just tell us something and we had little recourse but to accept it? Those days are gone. When the government released the video of Jeffrey Epstein's jail cell to prove he committed suicide the internet and CBS News got to work and now CBS News says something hinky is going on.

WHEN WANDA JAMES CRIES RACISM DOES ANYONE CARE ANYMORE? You CAN cry wolf too much. And Wanda James, the perpetually aggrieved black woman who has used cries of racism to enrich herself as a pot shop owner, has done so too often. After being censured by the CU Board of Regents for breaching her fiscal responsibility to the University as a Regent, she has taken to her social media to cry racism. Of course she has. She does this because she will not take responsibility for her actions and blaming everyone else is what she does. She is an awful person and I hope this ends her political career but of course it won't because Democrats will protect people like her lest THEY be hit with garbage calls of racism. I'm glad the board is not backing down.

THE NETFLIX TAX PROVES HOW STUPID OUR SALES TAX SYSTEM IS And I'm probably not going to talk about this because it is DENSE, but Ari Armstrong does a great job of demonstrating just how unclear the laws around sales tax really are. Read it here.

EL PASO SAYS NO THANK YOU TO XCEL'S MASSIVE POWERLINE PROJECT This is an interesting turn of events as the move to unreliable renewable energy meets the problem of how to get energy from far away to the city who needs it. Xcel proposed a massive power line project to bring energy from wind farms in eastern Colorado to Denver. It was to rip right through Elbert and El Paso Counties but now both counties have said no. And for good reason. There is literally NOTHING in it for them. They are not Xcel customers and Xcel has not worked with either county to address concerns about the project. Xcel is threatening to use eminent domain instead of trying to be a good partner because they know Governor Polis has their backs. This should be very interesting to watch because it is far from over.

IT'S THE END OF A CABLE ERA As E! News is wrapping up on September 25th for good. It's been on since 1991 but as people have better access to celebrity gossip on their phones viewership has cratered and now it's time.

DOES TRAVEL WRECK YOUR GUT? This is a good article on how to take care of your gut when you're on the road.

I'M TRYING THIS FOR JET LAG Yes, the Blue Sky Sleep gels have saved me from jet lag, but what about next time? There are two apps that you might want to try, though I am going with Flykitt as one of our Japan travellers used it and said it was great.

BED BATH AND BEYOND IS COMING BACK! From BEYOND the grave, a new store is going to be opening up in Tennessee and I'm not saying I'm going to fly there just for this but I'm not saying I'm not. I loved that store and still miss it. Oh, and they will take your coupons.

COORS IS MAKING...DEODORANT? I'm genuinely confused about whether the Rocky Mountain scented deodorant that Coors is putting out is a marketing gimmick or an actual long term product. It's certainly a departure from their normal business.

IT'S TIME TO CHANGE COURSE ON HOMELESSNESS And Colorado has a golden opportunity to commit to programs that actually work to help people overcome addiction and get on with their lives. This editorial about the new federal stance on such things shows now is the time to work with the feds to support programs that work, instead of homeless hotels where people are just dying. I got this from Meghan Shay, the Executive Director at Step Denver:

The leading cause of death among the homeless in Denver is overdose and alcohol. The Medical Examiner reports:

In 2025 YTD, there have been 127 homeless deaths. In 81% of cases the cause of death was overdose. In 2024, there were 220 homeless deaths. Of those 77% were caused by overdose and alcohol.  Yet in the Colorado HMIS’s 2024 State of Homelessness Report, the word “substance” appears once and only to name SAMHSA. There are zero mentions of alcohol, drugs, overdose, or addiction.

We can't fix the problem is we don't name the problem and that problem is addiction.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE BIGGEST LOSER And what happened to the "winners" after they show? I can't wait to see this.

ABOUT THE DENVER POST THREATENING TO DOX DO BETTER DENVER The plot thickens as one of the people contacted by a Post reporter has now sent the following letter to the Denver Post, it's legal department and the ownership. This person asked that their name be redacted for obvious reasons:

Subject: Concerns Regarding DoBetterDenver Article in Denver Post

Dear Ms. Colacioppo,

My name is **************, and I’m writing to express serious concern about

a call I received yesterday from Ms. Bradbury regarding a forthcoming

article about the Instagram account Do Better Denver. During the call,

Ms. Bradbury accused me and two others (also included in this e-mail)

of operating the account—an accusation that is entirely false.

None of us manage the Do Better Denver account or have any control

over its content. The account is a decentralized, crowdsourced

platform with hundreds—if not thousands—of contributors across the

city. One individual decides what to post and when to post it. Our

only occasional involvement has been to share public information or

images, including results from CORA (Colorado Open Records Act)

requests when we felt they revealed something of public interest.

For example, I uncovered through a CORA that hundreds of thousands of

dollars from the general fund are being spent on shelter repairs—costs

that are not reflected in Mayor Johnston’s public figures on his House

1000 program. Because he campaigned on transparency and has not

delivered it, I exercised my legal right to request records and share

facts.

I am deeply troubled by what appears to be an effort by The Denver

Post to weaponize CORA requests and portray lawful civic engagement as

something nefarious and making individuals fearful of submitting CORA

requests. Even worse, publicly tying individuals—falsely—to an account

that has received death threats is reckless and potentially puts us

and our families in harm’s way and could impact our livelihoods.

If The Denver Post proceeds with publishing false or defamatory

statements that suggest I or the two others are behind Do Better

Denver, or if you misrepresent our lawful civic actions, we will

pursue all legal avenues available. This includes potential claims of

libel, defamation, invasion of privacy, and negligent journalism. If

any harm comes to us, our families or associates as a result of this

article, your liability will be clear.

This approach to reporting is irresponsible and damaging. You have a

duty to ensure the accuracy of your stories and to avoid endangering

members of the public through speculation and misrepresentation. I

urge you and your reporters to reconsider sharing our names (first or

last) or any other identifying information (e.g., an address, name of

an associated business or place of work) in this article and adhere to

your journalistic obligations.

I've got more on this story today. And lo and behold, this account made a fun video about it!