Ishan Thakore
@ithakore
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Journalist and Producer. Previously Scripps Fellow @ CU Boulder, @FullFrontalSamB, JOC Fellow @IRE_NICAR, @Fulbright-@NatGeo, @sundanceorg/@bbc grantee
New York, USA
Joined September 2013
Colorado is losing out on millions in FEMA funding, as the agency ties immigration enforcement to federal dollars https://t.co/UWD3BFiXgi via @ithakore #copolitics
cpr.org
The delay in funding is being felt across the state.
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Trump administration cancels millions in agriculture funding for Western states, including Colorado ranchers and farmers https://t.co/3CwDqLghjY via @ithakore #copolitics
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“They’ve been hinting at this for quite a while,” Di Liberto said. “You see what’s happened in other agencies to science and scientists, where they are basically just trying to get rid of everybody.” https://t.co/zB5NHj40S6 via @samuelbrasch & @ithakore #copolitics
cpr.org
People could be heard crying in NOAA’s David Skaggs Research Center in Boulder.
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Several Colorado scientists worked for months on the country's first National Nature Assessment. Then, President Trump cancelled it. Here's what scientists said: https://t.co/JYZXGSAV1w
cpr.org
The National Nature Assessment was meant to document how the country’s lands, waters and wildlife benefit Americans, and how climate change might change that picture.
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In Colorado, climate-related projects are feeling the freeze on federal funding https://t.co/u2cfUv8cSI via @ithakore #copolitics
npr.org
Courts have ordered the Trump administration to lift its freeze on federal funding, but lots of CLIMATE-related spending is still paused. In Colorado, the freeze has hit affected many projects.
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Trump orders fuel new uncertainty around Colorado climate and infrastructure projects. Here’s what we know https://t.co/CHork0Ef33 via @ithakore, @samuelbrasch & @nbminor #copolitics
cpr.org
Hundreds of millions of federal dollars are now at risk as the administration orders pauses to projects across the state.
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Dug into how President-elect Trump's administration may affect public lands decisions in Colorado, and across the West https://t.co/AHhhAEfecV
cpr.org
New rules designed to strengthen conservation and restrict drilling on public lands may be rolled back under President-elect Trump’s Department of Interior.
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Regulators are considering more public comments and setting more hearings. You can submit public comments here, by selecting rulemaking, then 24R-0168EG https://t.co/ONL4pgzzeS
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Advocates also say without itemizing, it's impossible to verify that Coloradans aren't subsidizing the lobbying/political influencing of their electric or gas provider.
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Some lawmakers say keeping detailed reports secret undermines the law. “To me, it’s a little odd that the utilities are dying on this hill, because I think the intent is clear. I think it’s hard to justify to the public that this should be secret" - CO Senate Pres Steve Fenberg
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But some utilities, like Xcel, already provide much of this info already in states like TX or Michigan. Xcel submitted a 36-page report of its Colorado political spending....but confidentially. Regulators denied our freedom of information act request to see it
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Utilities say that they already don't bill customers for their lobbying, they shouldn't have to itemize their political activity, that this would be expensive and onerous, and that it might even violate their First Amendment rights.
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Last year, CO lawmakers passed a law to ban utilities from spending customer cash on political lobbying. But most of the law's fine print went to a state regulatory body -- the Public Utilities Commission -- to figure out. Cue lots of legal filings and a hearing
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For @CPRNews , dug into how Colorado's big utilities, like Xcel Energy, are trying to keep detailed records of their political spending secret. Here's some key takeaways:
cpr.org
Xcel Energy and other Colorado utilities want state regulators to allow them to keep detailed information about political spending secret.
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Utilities have to disclose some itemized political spending in other states. Those same utilities are pushing regulators to keep that kind of info secret in Colorado. Legislators say that undermines a new transparency law they wrote, @ithakore reports 👇
cpr.org
Xcel Energy and other Colorado utilities want state regulators to allow them to keep detailed information about political spending secret.
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She said: "Definitely, definitely. That's something I'm always gonna be worried about. I'm always in the back of my mind like, yo, we just got out the shelter. Nobody's about to put us right back. We just got out."
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And last but not least: the story's main character is Kamilah, who had a roller-coaster of a time finding a home for her and her kids, and was homeless twice. And even when she did find a spot, it still feels tenuous. I asked her if she's worried about becoming homeless again:
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The mayor/City Council's budget deal last week slots in 17 new positions for the agency, intended for SOI work. But some staff said that it could take months for new hires to go through the city's Office of Management & Budget
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For a while that really affected the agency's Source of Income unit (SOI), which deals with housing voucher discrimination, which is RAMPANT. So many New Yorkers I spoke to had trouble finding a home, even with a guarantee from the city
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