A 50-state report card from climate group F Minus gives New Jersey a D+ for its lobbyist disclosure system. New Jersey was one of just eight states to require lobbyists to report the numbers of the bills on which they are lobbying, positions taken on these bills, and the compensation they receive from each of their clients. However, the state received one of the worst scores in the country for its lobbyist disclosure website, which is maintained by the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.
“New Jersey has a dangerous disconnect between its disclosure laws, which are relatively strong, and a very bad website that feels like driving in heavy Jersey traffic in the days before GPS and EZ-Pass,” said James Browning, Executive Director of F Minus. “New Jersey is spending millions on dealing with the climate crisis, and it’s past time the state spent some money on fixing this site and making it easier for people to hold fossil fuel lobbyists accountable.”
Read the New Jersey report and the 50-state write-up.
Launched in 2023, F Minus tracks fossil fuel lobbyists who also represent clients being harmed by the climate crisis. In New Jersey, the F Minus list identifies hundreds of clients at some of the state’s most prominent lobbying firms, including the City of Newark and Princeton University sharing the firm of DeCotiis Fitzpatrick Cole & Giblin with six fossil fuel companies, and the Nemours Foundation and Pew Charitable Trusts sharing Princeton Public Affairs with BP, Kinder Morgan, and five other fossil fuel companies.
“The F Minus database reveals a troubling contradiction in our state’s climate justice efforts,” said Ben Dzobiek, Executive Director of the Climate Revolution Action Network. “While institutions like Princeton University begin to publicly distance themselves from fossil fuels, they still share lobbying resources with the very corporations driving environmental destruction. This hypocrisy undermines our activism as we fight for state-level divestment from fossil fuels and push for offshore wind energy—a vital step toward a sustainable future. We need transparency and accountability in a system that serves the people, not one that shields the interests of those hindering our climate goals.”
Nationally, the report card gives 27 states a failing for their lobbyist disclosure systems and finds a “massive failure” by nearly all states to capture the full extent of lobbying by fossil fuel companies.
“Exposing the tactics of fossil fuel lobbyists can make the difference between winning or losing the climate fight,” Browning continued, “and this report card shows that right now we’re choosing to lose.”