Good Governance

Senior Counsel

Peter has been an environmental, land use, and consumer attorney and advocate since 1983. He has held various roles in Washington, DC including Of Counsel at the Center for Food Safety; Vice President for U.S. Government Policy at Conservation International; Director of International Conservation at Defenders of Wildlife; and Staff Attorney at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Additionally, he worked as a contracted consultant on endangered species recovery efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Turner Endangered Species Fund in New Mexico. Prior to that, he served as an Attorney and Policy Analyst for the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, and was also in private law practice. His career has centered on bringing the best science to bear in environmental protection efforts; he has specialized in working with scientists so their findings can inform good policy, as well as in federal litigation. Most of his work has been in aid of wildlife conservation in the fields of pesticides, genetically modified organisms, invasive species, wildlife disease prevention, international trade, land use conflicts, and other areas. Peter received his law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law and also has a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a focus on conservation biology.

COMMENTARY | Trump Vs. Biden: Federal Governance

by Peter Jenkins | June 22, 2023
A comparison of the Trump Administration and the first two years of the Biden Administration on their Good Governance activity ...

VIDEO | Testimony Before the House Natural Resources Committee (May 10, 2023)

by PEER | May 12, 2023
PEER Executive Director Tim Whitehouse testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources in support and opposition of various bills ...

Science Integrity Plan Throws Scientists Under the Bus

by PEER | February 6, 2023
OSTP Encourages Dissent but Offers No Legal Protection Against Backlash ...

OSTP Slips Gag Rule into Model Scientific Integrity Policy

by PEER | January 30, 2023
Scientists Prohibited from Policy Recommendations in Presenting Research ...

EPA Cannot Retrieve Text Message Content

by PEER | December 15, 2022
New “Deprovisioning Process” for Employees to “Wipe” Mobile Devices ...

Park Service Lack of Transparency Created Its Huge FOIA Backlog

by Jeff Ruch | November 18, 2022
The National Park Service is drowning in FOIA requests - the backlog has nearly doubled during the past two years ...