Commentary

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.

Trump’s Enemies List: Dismantling the Civil Service

by Peter Jenkins | July 10, 2024
If elected, Donald Trump will likely pick up where he left off – going after the federal merit system founded more than 140 years ago ...

EPA’s Effort to Misrepresent Pesticide Tests Backfires

by Kyla Bennett | July 5, 2024
EPA’s Effort to Misrepresent Pesticide Tests Backfires This commentary was originally published in the Summer 2024 edition of PEEReview. In a misguided effort to protect its reputation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knowingly issued false statements that pesticides it ...

Hubris Squared: What the End of Chevron Means

by Tim Whitehouse | July 1, 2024
The Supreme Court has limited government agencies’ ability to interpret and implement federal laws protecting public health and the environment ...

Science Integrity at NOAA: Run Silent, Run Deep

by Jeff Ruch | June 27, 2024
Most agencies sent their draft scientific integrity policies out for public comment, but not the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration ...

New White House Carbon Offsetting ‘Principles’ Lack Teeth

by Laurie Williams | June 10, 2024
The administration should find the courage to reverse course and acknowledge that carbon offsets are a dangerous and damaging distraction ...

What the FCC Must Do to Comply with New NEPA Rules

To date, the Federal Communications Commission has had neither the personnel nor resources to comply with NEPA ...