Wyoming

Lowest score of any state for frequency of disclosure. Lobbyist activity reports are filed just once a year and are viewable only by filing a request with the WY Secretary of State. Expenditure reports are available for download, but aren’t viewable beforehand, which can mean a lot of time looking for wheat in the chaff.

Ski slopes near Jackson depend on a large number of sub-freezing days per year to build up snowpack; these days are projected to fall from about 250 per year currently to 150 by the end of this century. In 2024, the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort employed four lobbyists who also worked for fossil fuel companies Holly Frontier, ONEOK, Questar, and AES.

In 2020, the town of Jackson adopted a climate plan that calls for reducing emissions, shifting to renewables, and carbon sequestration, with a Net Zero goal of 2030. In 2024, the town’s lobbyist Nicholas Agopian also lobbied on behalf of ExxonMobil, Devon Energy, and oil and gas exploration company Ovintiv.

To what extent is the fossil fuel advocacy of these lobbyists causing climate-related problems for which the Town of Jackson and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort might need state or federal funding to solve? Wyoming makes it hard to know–its disclosure system provides less information and makes this information harder to get than almost any state. Lobbyists do not report positions or bill numbers, or compensation received from their clients. Activity reports are filed just once a year and copies of these can only be obtained by emailing the Secretary of State.

Best feature: the site offers historical registration data going back to 1998.

Worst feature: activity reports are only available by emailing the Secretary of State.

Additional Findings