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COMMENTARY | Evisceration of the Federal Communications Commission NEPA

by Guest Contributor | December 22, 2025
The FCC is on the verge of promulgating NEPA rules that would further weaken its already skeletal NEPA rules and further exempt itself from NEPA obligations ...

COMMENTARY | Trump and Congress Just Gifted Big Oil a Multimillion Dollar Stocking Stuffer

by Guest Contributor | December 19, 2025
As Congress recesses this week, it quietly gave the oil industry a multimillion dollar tax break by allowing the 9 cent-per-barrel oil tax into the federal Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to expire on December 31 ...

Building Accountability Back Into Government: Why It’s Essential for the Environment and Public Health

by Tim Whitehouse | December 18, 2025
At PEER, we believe restoring accountability is among the most urgent environmental and public health challenges of our time. It is also a challenge we know how to meet -- if we choose to strengthen, rather than silence, the institutions designed to keep the government honest ...

COMMENTARY | Environmental Attacks Continue at Full Speed; Much of it Under the Radar

by Tim Whitehouse | December 9, 2025
Several major rollbacks show a government being redirected to serve a narrow set of industries at the expense of the public ...

COMMENTARY | Confronting the Rise of Authoritarianism

by Tim Whitehouse | November 6, 2025
The the fate of our work protecting public employees and the environment is dependent on our ability to combat the rise in authoritarianism and promote democratic values in our country ...

COMMENTARY | East Wing Demolition Metaphor for Trump Governance

by Jeff Ruch | October 27, 2025
The bulldozers and backhoes have razed the East Wing of the White House to make way for President Trump’s big, beautiful ballroom. Characteristically, Trump has barreled ahead, heedless of the law, tradition, or concerns about historic protection and good taste ...

COMMENTARY | EPA’s Rollback of Endangerment Finding is Cloaked in Secrecy and Science-Denial

by Kaylee Rodriguez | October 23, 2025
The proposal to repeal the endangerment finding is part of a concentrated effort by the Trump administration to abandon science in favor of a political agenda ...

COMMENTARY | Alaska Can No Longer Ignore Climate Change: Latest Disaster Should Be Wake-Up Call

by Jeff Ruch | October 21, 2025
Remnants of typhoon Halong battered Alaska with hellacious winds and record-breaking storm surges, yet national and even state policies are unlikely to change in its aftermath ...

COMMENTARY | What RIF Notices Mean for Federal Employees

by Guest Contributor | October 20, 2025
Mass firings won’t meaningfully reduce the federal budget, but they will strip federal agencies of invaluable expertise and leadership ...

COMMENTARY | Shutdown Could Provide Glimpse into the Future of Public Lands

by Kaylee Rodriguez | October 9, 2025
The Department of Interior is gearing up to slash its workforce, and as past shutdowns indicate, this means danger ahead for our parks and public lands ...

COMMENTARY | The Supreme Court Must Stop the Slide to Authoritarian Rule

by Peter Jenkins | October 7, 2025
The Supreme Court, whose 2025-2026 Term began on October 6, has set the stage for a descent to authoritarian rule in a series of quick rulings that favored President Trump over the last nine months ...

COMMENTARY | Trump Administration Descends on Dissenters; They’re Still Speaking Out

by Kaylee Rodriguez | September 18, 2025
A recent series of dissent letters signed by federal government employees documents the devastation this administration is inflicting on public health, safety, and the environment ...

COMMENTARY | Trump’s Challenge to the Climate Endangerment Finding: Another Tragic Farce

by Laurie Williams | September 16, 2025
Trump is grabbing the bull by the horns and proposing to rescind the Endangerment Finding altogether. His plan for doing so is both rash and outlandish ...

COMMENTARY | Growing Resistance to Trump’s Cuts Indicates Budget Battle Ahead

by Kaylee Rodriguez | August 28, 2025
If the Interior and Environment Appropriations bills move to the floor, we can expect a showdown between “skinny budget” loyalists and other members of Congress who are increasingly pushing back against the broad slashing of funds ...

COMMENTARY | Redefining the US Forest Service Mission

by Guest Contributor | August 27, 2025
An anonymous US Forest Service employee shares their concerns about the recent direction for implementing EO 14225 “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production ...

COMMENTARY | Dumbing Down America’s Best Idea: National Parks in Free Fall

by Jeff Ruch | August 16, 2025
Even as the National Park Service sets new all-time visitation records, no one could claim our national parks are basking in a golden age ...

COMMENTARY | New Wave of Personnel Actions Threatens National Parks

by Kaylee Rodriguez | August 7, 2025
With peak visitation season underway, the National Park Service is struggling to keep up amid increasing uncertainty and understaffing ...

COMMENTARY | Commercial Space Activities and the Elimination of Science at NOAA

by Tim Whitehouse | August 5, 2025
The Trump Administration is doing everything in its power to limit or eliminate science-based oversight of industry activities and is using the threat of "pocket rescissions" to prevent harm to favored industries ...

COMMENTARY | Idiocracy: Loyalty Displaces Competence in Trump World

by Jeff Ruch | August 1, 2025
In his second term, Trump has assembled perhaps the least distinguished Cabinet in modern history, abandoning any pretense of picking people based upon competence ...

COMMENTARY | Trillion Dollar Return on Public Lands – Harvesting Hot Air

by Jeff Ruch | July 2, 2025
The Burgum-backed plans for Department of Interior lands promote a frenzy of extraction, overuse, and hasty disposal ...
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