Commentary

Senior Counsel

Jeff serves as Senior 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 | Is Congress Too Dysfunctional to Fund the National Parks?

by Jeff Ruch | August 10, 2023
In past decades, America’s best idea was one of the few domestic programs enjoying bipartisan support ...

COMMENTARY | Florida’s Environment – A Native Floridian Perspective

by Natasha De La Cruz | August 3, 2023
Florida must take significant steps to promote coastal resiliency and protect all communities against the effects of climate change and water pollution ...

COMMENTARY | Managing Rangelands From Outer Space

by Chandra Rosenthal | June 27, 2023
The BLM has introduced satellite imagery as its latest land management tool – with predictably bad results ...

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 ...

COMMENTARY | Strategy Needed to Avert Whale Mortality

by Tim Whitehouse | May 30, 2023
At least three large whale species in U.S. waters are on the brink of extinction, with more listed as endangered. Urgent action is needed ...

Change is Possible! National Parks Reclaim Their Skies

by Paula Dinerstein | May 24, 2023
The first serious inroads have been made into curbing swarms of commercial air tours rumbling across some of America’s most besieged national parks ...