Commentary

Of Counsel

Jeff serves as Of Counsel to PEER, where he specializes in civil service, scientific integrity, and whistleblower protection issues. Jeff was PEER’s Executive Director from 1997 to 2019 and its Pacific Director from 2019 to 2025. Previously, he was the Policy Director and a staff attorney at the Government Accountability Project, representing whistleblowers from both the public and private sectors. Before coming to DC, Jeff worked in California state government for 17 years, mostly in the State Legislature as counsel to various committees where he drafted hundreds of laws on topics ranging from energy conservation to the rights of employed inventors. Jeff served stints as a deputy district attorney and an appellate court clerk. He is a graduate of the California Correctional Officers Academy.

COMMENTARY | Congress Jeopardizes North Atlantic Right Whale Recovery 

by Colleen Zimmerman | January 9, 2023
Our elected officials and government agencies must do better to protect the North Atlantic right whale ...

COMMENTARY | Biden Strengthens Clean Water Rules

by Tim Whitehouse | January 5, 2023
The new regulations repeal a Trump-era rule, called the “Dirty Water Rule” by many, that left millions of acres of waterways unprotected from pollution ...

COMMENTARY | Park Service’s Inhumane Inertia

by Jeff Ruch | December 9, 2022
The Biden administration has left several disastrous Trump policies in place - from allowing inhumane hunting practices to not taking action on park crowding ...

COMMENTARY | The Hidden Dangers of Biosolids

by Monica Mercola | December 7, 2022
Biosolids are often marketed as "all-natural" but we don’t think about the pollutants that are transferred to produce from the fertilizers ...

COMMENTARY | Why This Mining Permit Should Fail

by Hudson Kingston | December 2, 2022
Should an agency's misbehavior invalidate their decisions? When it comes to mining permits in Minnesota, PEER thinks so ...

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 ...
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