Pressure of Truth
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Outlet profile

The Cooldown

U.S. center-left (climate and consumer-focused)

Owned byOwned by Palmetto, a clean-energy and residential solar financing company, which acquired it in November 2025. Before that it was an independent startup founded in 2022 by Dave Finocchio and Anna Robertson.
FundingAdvertising, branded and sponsored content, affiliate commerce, and a marketplace that sends readers to clean-energy and sustainable-product partners. Before the acquisition it raised about $5.7 million in venture funding. Its parent company now has a commercial interest in the clean-energy sector it covers.
On the administrationmostly neutral

Background

The Cool Down was founded in 2022 by Dave Finocchio, a co-founder and longtime CEO of Bleacher Report, and Anna Robertson, a former ABC and Yahoo News executive. It launched with the aim of being America's first mainstream climate brand, stressing solutions and practical tips over doom-and-gloom reporting. In July 2022 it announced a $5.7 million seed round led by Upfront Ventures. Other investors included Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Jetstream, Swingbridge, and Niche Capital, along with angel investors such as Bill Simmons. Its revenue came from advertising, branded content, affiliate commerce, and a curated marketplace. In November 2025, Heatmap News reported that Palmetto was buying the site, Palmetto's first move into media, and no price was disclosed. The content is heavily lifestyle- and how-to-oriented. Critics, including a niche advocacy blog, have described parts of it as marketing-driven, and some articles promote partner products. Media Bias/Fact Check rates it left-center and mostly factual, citing its environmental advocacy and its reliance on some social media sources. Because it mostly covers consumer energy and climate topics rather than politics, it has limited direct coverage of the administration, and I found no evidence of a strong stance in either direction. I could not open the outlet's own pages or the full articles, so these details come from search summaries.

Sources

  1. Scoop: Palmetto Is Buying 'The Cool Down' - Heatmap News
  2. The Cool Down Acquired by Palmetto - Orrick
  3. Climate media startup raises $5.7 million - Axios
  4. Online media vets launch The Cool Down - GeekWire
  5. The Cool Down - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check
  6. The Cool Down's Marketing-Driven Journalism - Bottled Water Facts
  7. Dave Finocchio - Wikipedia

Profile compiled 2026-10-22; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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