Commentary Archives - Page 20 of 49 - PEER.org

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.

Op-Ed | Herding Cats: Biden’s Myopic Approach to Scientific Integrity

by Jeff Ruch | February 16, 2023
The president has made it clear he believes scientific integrity is an important value. Now he must show it more forcefully ...

COMMENTARY | Conowingo: A Better Deal Coming for the Chesapeake Bay

by Paula Dinerstein | February 6, 2023
In a major victory for waterman and environmental groups, courts have vacated the licensing for Maryland's Conowingo Dam ...

COMMENTARY | Minnesota Agency Reverses Course on Illegal Permit

by Hudson Kingston | January 27, 2023
One Minnesota agency corrected its misstep and retracted a bad permit but time will tell if the others follow suit ...

COMMENTARY | PEER at Age 30 – Some Perspective

by Jeff Ruch | January 17, 2023
PEER is based on the somewhat novel idea that public servants can also be activists to advance their agencies’ mission when they fell short ...

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 ...