By MICHAEL GORMLEY
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. (AP) — A formal complaint filed with New York’s lobbying board asks it to investigate whether Artists Against Fracking, a group formed by Yoko Ono and son Sean Lennon, is violating the state’s lobbying law.
The complaint obtained by The Associated Press was made by the Independent Oil & Gas Association to the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics.
The energy trade group based its request for an investigation on an AP report that found that Artists Against Fracking and its advocates didn’t register as lobbyists. Registration requires several disclosures about spending and activities.
A spokesman for Artists Against Fracking says the group’s activities are protected because they were made during a public comment period. He also says celebrities involved in the group are protected because they are longtime activists, not lobbyists.
