Commentary

Director of Science Policy; Northeast & Mid-Atlantic Director

Kyla first became involved with PEER in the mid-1990s when she became a whistleblower herself. She previously worked at the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 1 for 10 years as a wetland permit reviewer and as the Region’s Wetlands Enforcement Coordinator. Kyla’s familiarity with science, the law, and the inner workings of state and federal governmental agencies enable her to assist public environmental employees throughout New England. She has a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of Connecticut and a law degree from Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.

COMMENTARY | EPA Asks for Comment on PFAS Data It Won’t Release

by Kyla Bennett | February 20, 2023
EPA is asking the public to comment on fluorination of plastics but keeping important materials, including health studies, confidential ...

COMMENTARY | How the FCC Fails to Follow Environmental Laws and Fails the Public

Given the FCC’s lack of oversight and failure to comply with environmental laws, numerous environmental harms occur under the agency’s watch ...

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 ...