Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Jennifer Fearing

88. Jennifer Fearing

For a lot of years now, Jennifer Fearing has been known as the go-to lobbyist for anything benefiting animals. But in recent years she has branched out considerably, taking up any number of other causes, from transportation and recycling – she was a key figure in 2022’s historic SB54 recycling overhaul – to protecting our oceans and getting plastic bags out of grocery stores. This year she has also been a major player in getting approximately 180 organizations into a coalition that helped get a $10 billion climate bond on the November ballot. On that front, she also led the successful fight against proposed budget cuts to the Habitat Conservation Fund, which voters created all the way back in 1990. And lest you think she has abandoned our furry friends, she is the lead lobbyist on several efforts to codify the state’s new approach to managing the beaver population and preserving beaver habitat. Tough and passionate but also very pragmatic, Fearing is a formidable advocate no matter what she’s fighting for.

Updated August 7, 2024