Energy Ant
Tracking # |
HQ-2023-00733-F |
Submitted | March 15, 2023 |
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Communications
From: Nicholas Marritz
Dear U.S. Department of Energy:
This is a request for records under the Freedom of Information Act.
RECORDS REQUESTED:
I am seeking records related to DOE's mascot, Energy Ant. Specifically, I request the following records:
1. Please produce all records related to the conception, creation, and design of the Energy Ant mascot. Please include any contracts or design concepts (e.g. sketches) in your production, as well as all records related to DOE's decision to create a mascot in the first place.
2. Please produce all Energy Ant-related promotional items, educational items, or tchotchkes, past or present, that took the form of records, such as trading cards, posters, or books (including but not limited to coloring books, activity books, or comic books).
3. Please produce all records related to the conception, creation, design, and use of any life-size Energy Ant costume. Responsive records would include contracts for the design or production of such a costume; design proposals or sketches; correspondence with the designer or manufacturer; and any guidelines related to the use of or care for the costume.
4. Please produce all correspondence related to Energy Ant (or to mascots in general) sent to or from any member of Congress, their office, or their staff. Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn may have sent some responsive correspondence around 2007. Iowa Senator Jodi Ernst may also have sent responsive records.
5. Please produce all records related to any decision by DOE to stop using Energy Ant as part of its public outreach.
REQUEST FOR FEE WAIVER:
The requested documents will be made available to the general public online for free, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. I am working on a non-commercial project examining the history, creation, evolution, and use of mascots across the federal government—because, like many others, I find them fascinating and weirdly delightful. Thus, I respectfully request that any fees related to this request be waived. If you do decide to charge me fees, please notify me in advance if you expect those fees to exceed $25.
FORM OF PRODUCTION:
I would prefer that this request be fulfilled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or on CD-ROM if not.
CONCLUSION:
Thank you very much for your cooperation with this request. I look forward to hearing from you soon!
Sincerely,
Nicholas Marritz
From: Department of Energy
Good morning,
I am the FOIA analyst from the Department of Energy (DOE) assigned to process your FOIA request of reference.
Attached is the DOE's interim response to your FOIA request.
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. - Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
From: Department of Energy
Good Morning Mr. Marritz,
Upon further review of your request, the Energy Information Administration has some additional questions for clarification regarding your Request Nos. HQ-2023-00733-F. Please let me know your availability for the below day/times for a Microsoft teams meeting to discuss this request with you. If any of those don't work for you, please provide your availability for next week.
* Thursday 4/5: 11:30 am - 1pm, 3pm-4pm
* Friday 4/6: 11am-3pm
Thank you.
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. - Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
From: Nicholas Marritz
Dear Mr. Finn:
Thank you for your message, and I am happy to clarify my FOIA request. However, I am confused about the dates you proposed for a Teams meeting. You suggested Thursday 4/5 and Friday 4/6. However, April 5 is a Wednesday and April 6 is a Thursday. Please clarify the dates and times you are proposing and I'll let you know my availability.
Thanks again,
Nick Marritz
From: Department of Energy
Mr. Martinez,
See below for the correct dates and times. Again, if those timeframes don’t work for you, please just let me know what your availability is next week. Thank you!
* Thursday 4/6: 11:30 am – 1pm, 3pm-4pm
* Friday 4/7: 11am-3pm
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. – Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
-
~WRD3215
From: Nicholas Marritz
Thursday 4/6 at 3:30 PM works well. Does that work for you? And my name is "Marritz," not "Martinez."
From: Department of Energy
Meeting to discuss questions posed by EIA for HQ-2023-00733-F. Audio function on teams only is fine.
________________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Y2RjNThkZGQtNmE4Yy00YmQ2LWJhM2QtYzQ4YjQyOWE2NTAz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%226b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-7f64be1c4138%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22a0bc3461-ae74-40a7-89ca-329327559e8a%22%7d>
Meeting ID: 271 584 157 564
Passcode: dKVCJD
Download Teams<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app> | Join on the web<https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting>
Or call in (audio only)
+1 443-457-0649,,908088875#<tel:+14434570649,,908088875#> United States, Baltimore
Phone Conference ID: 908 088 875#
Find a local number<https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/d90c11bd-a940-4162-b37a-3d9a6d6c7f3f?id=908088875> | Reset PIN<https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/usp/pstnconferencing>
Learn More<https://aka.ms/JoinTeamsMeeting> | Meeting options<https://teams.microsoft.com/meetingOptions/?organizerId=a0bc3461-ae74-40a7-89ca-329327559e8a&tenantId=6b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-7f64be1c4138&threadId=19_meeting_Y2RjNThkZGQtNmE4Yy00YmQ2LWJhM2QtYzQ4YjQyOWE2NTAz@thread.v2&messageId=0&language=en-US>
________________________________________________________________________________
From: Department of Energy
Mr. Marritz,
Thank you! I have just sent you a Microsoft teams invite (which I also provided below as well). We will conduct the meeting audio only (no need to have your camera on).
If you have any questions, or if you need to reschedule, please just let me know. We look forward to discussing your request with you in more detail soon!
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Y2RjNThkZGQtNmE4Yy00YmQ2LWJhM2QtYzQ4YjQyOWE2NTAz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%226b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-7f64be1c4138%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22a0bc3461-ae74-40a7-89ca-329327559e8a%22%7d>
Meeting ID: 271 584 157 564
Passcode: dKVCJD
Download Teams<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app> | Join on the web<https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting>
Or call in (audio only)
+1 443-457-0649,,908088875#<tel:+14434570649,,908088875#> United States, Baltimore
Phone Conference ID: 908 088 875#
Find a local number<https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/d90c11bd-a940-4162-b37a-3d9a6d6c7f3f?id=908088875> | Reset PIN<https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/usp/pstnconferencing>
Learn More<https://aka.ms/JoinTeamsMeeting> | Meeting options<https://teams.microsoft.com/meetingOptions/?organizerId=a0bc3461-ae74-40a7-89ca-329327559e8a&tenantId=6b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-7f64be1c4138&threadId=19_meeting_Y2RjNThkZGQtNmE4Yy00YmQ2LWJhM2QtYzQ4YjQyOWE2NTAz@thread.v2&messageId=0&language=en-US>
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. – Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
-
~WRD0000
From: Department of Energy
Meeting to discuss questions posed by EIA for HQ-2023-00733-F. Audio function on teams only is fine.
________________________________________________________________________________
Microsoft Teams meeting
Join on your computer, mobile app or room device
Click here to join the meeting<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3ameeting_Y2RjNThkZGQtNmE4Yy00YmQ2LWJhM2QtYzQ4YjQyOWE2NTAz%40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%226b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-7f64be1c4138%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%22a0bc3461-ae74-40a7-89ca-329327559e8a%22%7d>
Meeting ID: 271 584 157 564
Passcode: dKVCJD
Download Teams<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/download-app> | Join on the web<https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-teams/join-a-meeting>
Or call in (audio only)
+1 443-457-0649,,908088875#<tel:+14434570649,,908088875#> United States, Baltimore
Phone Conference ID: 908 088 875#
Find a local number<https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/d90c11bd-a940-4162-b37a-3d9a6d6c7f3f?id=908088875> | Reset PIN<https://dialin.teams.microsoft.com/usp/pstnconferencing>
Learn More<https://aka.ms/JoinTeamsMeeting> | Meeting options<https://teams.microsoft.com/meetingOptions/?organizerId=a0bc3461-ae74-40a7-89ca-329327559e8a&tenantId=6b183ecc-4b55-4ed5-b3f8-7f64be1c4138&threadId=19_meeting_Y2RjNThkZGQtNmE4Yy00YmQ2LWJhM2QtYzQ4YjQyOWE2NTAz@thread.v2&messageId=0&language=en-US>
________________________________________________________________________________
From: Department of Energy
Mr. Marritz,
It was a pleasure speaking with you just now. As discussed in our call, you have agreed to waive item number 1, 3, & 5 of your request after your discussion by the Energy Information Administration for the below reasons:
1. There are no documents related to the conception, creation, and design of the Energy Ant as the mascot was created in 1975;
3. There are no documents related to any Energy Ant life-size costume (including concept designs or creations); and
5. The Energy Ant is still currently in use.
DOE will conduct a search for items number 2 & 4 in your request as amended below in our discussion:
2. Please produce all Energy Ant-related promotional items, educational items, or tchotchkes, past or present, that took the form of records, such as trading cards, posters, or books (including but not limited to coloring books, activity books, or comic books).
4. Please produce all correspondence related to Energy Ant (or to mascots in general) sent to or from Iowa Senator Jodi Ernst.
Please just send me a confirmation email if you agree with the above. Thank you!
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. – Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
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image001
From: Nicholas Marritz
Dear Mr. Flynn:
It was a pleasure to speak with you and your colleagues. We're largely in agreement.
Regarding Category 1, I recall someone mentioning that there are some records related to the 2009 redesign and reboot of Energy Ant, including some conceptual designs. If that's so, please produce those.
Otherwise, I think we're on the same page.
I look forward to receiving the records!
With best regards,
Nick Marritz
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 17, 2023. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response. You had assigned it reference number #HQ-2023-00733-F.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Department of Energy
Good afternoon Mr. Marritz,
Apologies for the delayed response. We have received the responsive documents, and they are currently under review by General Counsel (GC). As soon as we receive a response from GC, I will let you know. Thank you!
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. – Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
-
~WRD0000
From: Nicholas Marritz
Dear Mr. Finn:
Now it's me who messed up your last name (in my message of April 6), so please accept my apologies for that. Regarding my FOIA request, thank you for the update. I look forward to receiving the records once General Counsel has reviewed them.
My best,
Nick Marritz
From: Department of Energy
Dear Mr. Marritz,
Attached, please find our Final Response Letter, as well as the responsive documents you requested.
Warm Regards,
Dylan Finn
FOIA Analyst
Wits Solutions Inc. – Contractor
U.S. Department of Energy FOIA Office
1000 Independence Ave. SW
Washington DC 20585
-
~WRD2371
From: Nicholas Marritz
Thank you so much for these records—they are wonderful! I really appreciate them, and your work in getting them to me. Is there any way you could send a higher resolution version of "The Evolution of Energy Ant" (p.6)? I'm especially interested in that, but the images are highly pixelated and the text isn't readable. Again, thank you!
My best,
Nick Marritz
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