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.

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 ...

Public Lands Unprotected: The Impact of Department of the Interior Law Enforcement Firings

by Guest Contributor | April 11, 2025
With understaffing of law enforcement officers and rangers already a severe problem, the new wave of terminations is exacerbating under-enforcement into crisis status ...

Overlooking the Obvious: Red King Crab Collapse Due to Overfishing

by Guest Contributor | March 26, 2025
NOAA claimed that the primary cause of the Bering Sea red king crab's collapse was warming seas caused by climate change rather than overfishing. A new NOAA study puts the lie to that alibi ...

Trump and the IGs – From Watchdogs to Lapdogs

by Jeff Ruch | March 25, 2025
The role of the Inspector General requires political independence to function properly. That independence is now irretrievably lost ...

May Federal Employees Be Activists?

by Colleen Zimmerman | March 4, 2025
PEER is engaged in precedent-setting work to secure the rights of federal employees to publish and be active in civic organizations on their own time ...

Trump’s Actions Are Undermining Our Response to Bird Flu – That is a Big Cause for Concern

by Tim Whitehouse | February 19, 2025
As scientists warn about the unprecedented nature of bird flu, the Trump administration’s actions are hobbling our ability to respond to it ...