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Maybe just give Melty a Mel-O-Cream and call it a day

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* Press release…

A coalition of 40 organizations, consisting of academics, activists, engineers, environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and concerned citizens underscored the high stakes of the last few days of the legislative session. In a letter just sent Governor J.B. Pritzker and members of the Illinois General Assembly urging them to do whatever is needed to keep all of the Illinois plants open.

Whatever is needed, eh? Hmm.

* The press release was sent to me by an organization called Generation Atomic. From its GuideStar page

We’re working to build the capacity and skills of nuclear advocates around the world by offering monthly trainings on the fundamentals of grassroots organizing. These trainings include how to write letters to the editor, how to have productive meetings with decision makers, and how to shift perceptions of nuclear energy in your own communities.

* A small group of nuke fankids dressed up and gave away free Mel-O-Cream donuts outside the Statehehouse the other day…


ANS at UIUC is out with some amazing #nuclear advocates today talking with our legislators about #savedresden and #savebyron. If you can, call your state representatives and tell them you support keeping our nuclear fleet in Illinois online!! pic.twitter.com/DZzwC3ah8d

— ANS - Illinois (@ANS_Illinois) May 24, 2021

That poor guy on the left. So unfortunate.

Back when I was in high school, a nuclear industry representative asked our drama teacher to help recruit a mascot who would make appearances at local schools dressed up in some ridiculous costume. She asked me if I was interested. The money was good, but I politely turned her down.

* The organization also sells nifty t-shirts like this one…

* They also have a character named “Melty,” which is supposed to be about preventing the polar caps from melting, but unfortunately reminded me of the phrase “nuclear meltdown”

A nuclear meltdown is the worst case scenario for a nuclear power plant, causing widespread releases of deadly radiation into the environment that can spread hundreds of miles away impacting wildlife as well as humans.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:15 am

Comments

  1. Seems like the bribery scheme worked better than the astroturfing does.

    Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:18 am

  2. Melty is right up there with the Three Mile Island 5K for nuclear energy

    Comment by Third Reading Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:24 am

  3. My fault for not looking at the Generation Atomic website before posting, but it takes a special kind of lack of moral character to create a logo that involves a raised clenched fist to represent your nuclear power industry astroturf advocacy organization. Especially when they’re an organization literally asking to have hundreds of millions of dollars handed over to a for profit business that makes billions of dollars annually and bribes public officials as a normal course of business in order to screw their customers while simultaneously not making new capital investments for future energy development and constantly maintaining the narrative that they’re incapable of operating existing infrastructure at profit.

    I hope whoever made that logo loses some sleep over it.

    Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:25 am

  4. So you want the kids to get off your lawn?

    Comment by Franklin Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:25 am

  5. I think I saw Melty and Squeezy at Saputos last night.

    Comment by Red Ranger Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:27 am

  6. “Jolly Green Giants”, really? They might as well have used Blinky the three-eyed fish from the Simpsons.

    Comment by cover Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:30 am

  7. No costume shaming. Just because you were too cool for school . . .

    Comment by What's in a name? Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:31 am

  8. They also have a character named “Melty,”

    I think the cheese lobby isn’t too happy about that

    Comment by Skeptic Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:39 am

  9. Where can I buy a “melty” shirt?

    Comment by 33rd ward Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:41 am

  10. When I hear the word meltdown I recall Rep. Tim Johnson (R-Urbana), in committee standing on his chair yelling, “you will not adjourn without giving me time to follow up with the witness. I was elected by thousands of people and you will not have my voice silenced”.

    Wow, am I old or what?

    Comment by Give Me A Break Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:42 am

  11. I only see 1 box of donuts. Are they less than 12 votes away from passage?

    Comment by Henry Francis Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:44 am

  12. “Clean energy” is a very myopic description of nuclear power plants. A byproduct that has a 1/2 life of 24,000 years to degrade and which no state wants to accept from another state for storage, hardly seems “clean”. And yeah I get no fossil fuels are consumed to generate the power, but nuclear power is not “clean” in this person’s book.

    Comment by Tommydanger Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:46 am

  13. “Holly Green Giants” reminds me of the SNL sketch with Dan Aykroyd as President Carter and who grew into a giant due to the radiation from 3 Mile Island..

    Comment by Al Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:47 am

  14. A few years back I was a judge at the state science fair (when they held it at SIU because the facility at U of I wasn’t available).

    One of the things that struck me was the number of cash awards (decent sized too) that were offered by two different types of groups.

    Nuclear power and nuclear projects (they had to expand their scope a bit) and soils. If you did a project and made it to state in one of those two areas you had a significant chance of getting a cash prize.

    Each of those groups had multiple awards worth over $100 a pop.

    Comment by OneMan Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:49 am

  15. * They also have a character named “Melty,”

    Comment by eom Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:53 am

  16. part 2
    and they say irony is dead.

    Comment by eom Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:54 am

  17. Is that a banana under your shirt or are you just … oh, yes, that’s a banana.

    Comment by Ok Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 10:59 am

  18. On a shoestring budget, or less, this PR effort underscores the ever present ‘twitchy’ attitude toward feeling secure about nuclear energy. Good work, guys.

    Comment by Sayitaintso Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:03 am

  19. Lobbying is a noble trade.

    Thinking it’s merely press releases and silly costumes…

    Either take serious what you hope to accomplish or get professionals to help you be effective.

    It’s embarrassing

    Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:08 am

  20. Didn’t nuclear power cause the scourge of Godzilla? Is there any account (fictional or otherwise) of a windmill or a solar farm creating a gigantic mutant?

    Comment by Blue Oyster Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:11 am

  21. I want a Capitol Fax tshirt …. with Mr Miller wearing a costume

    Comment by Lurker Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:17 am

  22. “Melty”…only “Move Illinois Forward” had a worse thought out name.

    Comment by Q A-Bomb Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:18 am

  23. Between the lines: Fulfilling our ANS chapter’s requirement for a civic engagement event one goofy idea at a time.

    Someone should FOIA to see if McClain paid for the donuts

    Comment by Third Reading Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:20 am

  24. Is B&G aware of this possible copyright infringement?

    Comment by Cheryl44 Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 11:31 am

  25. The Amazing Colossal Man, 1957.

    Comment by Big Rocker Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 12:13 pm

  26. Generation Atomic sounds like a Marvel character or storyline on one of their shows.

    Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 12:24 pm

  27. Are there former Quinn administration staffers on the payroll at Generation Atomic? Including the guy that created Squeezy?

    Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 12:26 pm

  28. It’s always amusing when a naive student group gets co-opted by gigantic corporate interests.

    Comment by Senator Clay Davis Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 12:28 pm

  29. “Melty” reminds me of Noem’s slogan, “Meth…We’re on it”.

    Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 1:18 pm

  30. Fukushima Japan isn’t cleaned up and radiation is now showing up on the coast of Washington. Nuclear energy is just another kind of dirty. They are releasing millions of gallons radiation tainted water into the ocean. Chernobyl is abandoned, too radioactive to allow for people to live.

    Comment by Froganon Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 2:13 pm

  31. == I want a Capitol Fax tshirt …. with Mr Miller wearing a costume ==

    Absolutely, I would buy this.

    Comment by Northsider Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 2:28 pm

  32. It’s one banana, Rich. What could it cost, $10?

    Only surprised I’m the first one here with this. I think we have found the new Lutheran Social Services fundraising appeal with a costume for Rich on a CapFax shirt.

    Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 2:55 pm

  33. I traded the stacks at Byron for CWLP many years ago. I think I’d still rather live next the cooling towers of Ogle County.

    Comment by Cool Papa Bell Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 2:58 pm

  34. ===Including the guy that created Squeezy?

    He’s writing the Squeezy origin story.

    Comment by ArchPundit Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 3:01 pm

  35. == I want a Capitol Fax tshirt …. ==

    Didn’t we have those back in summer 2007? To commemorate “Overtime in Hell?”

    Comment by EssentialStateEmployeeFromChatham Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 3:18 pm

  36. ===back in summer 2007?===

    Yep.

    Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, May 27, 21 @ 3:21 pm

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