Massachusetts

Draconian system that forces users to pay $200 and file a public information request to obtain a complete list of lobbyists and their clients. Only state besides AZ ($25) to charge for this information. Among the worst states for public access to government information, historically, earning a grade of F and a rank of 40th in a 2015 report by the Center for Public Integrity.

The New England Aquarium has taken an activist stance on climate change and has worked with Massachusetts state legislators to file bills dealing with ocean conservation science, blue workforce development, and carbon sequestration. Yet the Aquarium shares the lobbying firm the Dewey Square Group with Enbridge, which operates the largest network of fossil-fuel carrying pipelines in North America and has lobbied to export Canadian tar sands oil through New England. This oil has been called some of the dirtiest oil in the world and these tar sands represent one of the world’s biggest unexploded “carbon bombs,” a resource whose development would jeopardize any chance of limiting global warming to 1.5° C.

The Commonwealth Zoological Corporation’s work on climate change includes membership in the national Framing Our Future coalition of zoos and aquariums promoting conservation legislation in Congress. Yet from 2022-24, the Zoo retained the Massachusetts lobbying firm of Kearney, Donovan & McGree, which also lobbied on behalf of Constellation Energy Generation and Calpine, the biggest generator of electricity from gas in the country.

Calpine and other gas companies continue to tout gas as “clean” energy despite the fact that methane emissions from burning gas are actually worse than coal for global warming in the short-term. Rising temperatures and increasingly severe climate impacts like wildfires and drought pose a major threat to animal species around the world.

Massachusetts does require lobbyists to list the numbers of the bills on which they are lobbying. For 2023, Kearney, Donovan & McGree disclosed working on the FY 2024 budget bill (SB 2400) for both Calpine and the Zoo.

Best feature: individual lobbyist pages have all pertinent information in one place: disclosure of compensation from clients, spending on gifts and meals, and a list of bills and positions taken on these bills.

Worst feature: the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office charges $200 for a list of lobbyists and their clients.

Additional Findings