By Michael Gormley, The Associated Press
FILE
- In this file photo of Jan. 17, 2013, Yoko Ono, left, and her son Sean
Lennon visit a fracking site in Franklin Forks, Pa., during a bus tour
of natural-gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania. Ono and
Lennon have formed a group called “Artists Against Fracking,” which has
become the main celebrity driven anti-fracking organization. A formal
complaint filed with New York’s lobbying board asks it to investigate
whether Artists Against Fracking is violating the state's lobbying law,
according to the document obtained by The Associated Press. (AP
Photo/Richard Drew, File)
ALBANY, N.Y. - A formal complaint filed with New York's lobbying board
asks it to investigate whether Artists Against Fracking, a group that
includes Yoko Ono and other A-List celebrities, is violating the state's
lobbying law, according to the document obtained by The Associated
Press.
The Independent Oil & Gas Association, an industry group that
supports gas drilling, filed the complaint Tuesday with the state's
Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
The complaint is based on an AP story that found that Artists Against Fracking and its members, including Ono, her son Sean Lennon, actors Mark Ruffalo and Robert De Niro and others, aren't registered as lobbyists and therefore didn't disclose their spending in opposition to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to remove gas from underground deposits.
"The public has been unable to learn how much money is being spent on this effort, what it is being spent on, and who is funding the effort," said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York. "I understand the power of celebrity that this organization has brought to the public discussion over natural gas development, but I do not understand why this organization is not being required to follow...
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy-resources/trade+group+seeks+lobbying+probe+Artists/8175380/story.html?__lsa=72e8-6652#ixzz2PAvxERWL
The complaint is based on an AP story that found that Artists Against Fracking and its members, including Ono, her son Sean Lennon, actors Mark Ruffalo and Robert De Niro and others, aren't registered as lobbyists and therefore didn't disclose their spending in opposition to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to remove gas from underground deposits.
"The public has been unable to learn how much money is being spent on this effort, what it is being spent on, and who is funding the effort," said Brad Gill, executive director of the Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York. "I understand the power of celebrity that this organization has brought to the public discussion over natural gas development, but I do not understand why this organization is not being required to follow...
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/energy-resources/trade+group+seeks+lobbying+probe+Artists/8175380/story.html?__lsa=72e8-6652#ixzz2PAvxERWL
