Commentary

Climate Consultant

Laurie recently retired after 35 years as an attorney at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Laurie and her husband Allan Zabel, also formerly with EPA, have written and spoken on climate policy. Her goals are to apply the skills she learned at EPA to address the climate crisis. She looks forward to collaborating with others to draft principles for national climate legislation and to help build public support for effective and fair climate legislation. Laurie and Allan’s prior climate work includes their 2008 Open Letter to Congress, their climate video (“The Huge Mistake”), a Washington Post op-ed (“Cap-and-Trade Mirage”), and work on a 2012 lawsuit challenging California’s offset protocols (Citizens Climate Lobby and Our Children’s Earth Foundation vs. CARB). Laurie has a B.A. from Yale, an M.S.W. from Smith College and a J.D. from UC Berkeley Law. She enjoys hiking, camping and spending time with family including her grandchildren and godchildren.

COMMENTARY | House Budget Bill is a Disaster for Public Employees and the Environment

by Tim Whitehouse | May 23, 2025
PEER condemns the budget reconciliation bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives as disastrous for our country’s fiscal health and our public lands, wildlife, and environmental protections ...

COMMENTARY | EPA’s Disgraceful Forever Chemicals Retreat

by Kyla Bennett | May 22, 2025
EPA’s retreat on PFAS not only betrays the agency’s mission but makes a mockery of the Trump Administration’s self-proclaimed pledge to Make America Healthy Again ...

COMMENTARY | Pesticides on Public Lands: A Short-Term Solution with Long-Term Harm

by Chandra Rosenthal | May 20, 2025
Any use of pesticides on public lands must be carefully weighed against the many risks they pose to human health, soil health, native biodiversity, wildlife, and aquatic ecosystems ...

COMMENTARY | Rebalancing Checks and Balances: How to Curb Executive Abuse

by Jeff Ruch | April 25, 2025
President Trump has conclusively demonstrated that the executive branch cannot be trusted to police itself in following the law ...

COMMENTARY | National Parks or Jurassic Parks? Conservation Trump Style

by Jeff Ruch | April 22, 2025
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum suggests that technology can replace the role of habitat and intact ecosystems in the survival of wildlife ...

COMMENTARY | Climate Hope & Public Employees in the Age of Trump

by Laurie Williams | April 16, 2025
The Trump Administration’s assaults against efforts to preserve a livable climate are breathtaking in their ambition. What can public employees and ordinary citizens do to help maintain climate hope during this critical time ...
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