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.

BLOG | Mining: An Eco-Price for Fighting Climate Change

by Guest Contributor | March 24, 2021
Hardrock mining for minerals like lithium is no more sustainable than fracking for natural gas. Inflicting more damage is not the answer to climate change ...

Let’s Resist the Temptation to “Improve” Wilderness

by Guest Contributor | March 19, 2021
In designated wilderness areas, management means protecting the resource and natural processes, sometimes this means less access instead of more ...

BLOG | Supreme Court FOIA Decision and Official Candor

by Jeff Ruch | March 16, 2021
The recent Supreme Court decision makes government less transparent by shielding scientific conclusions from disclosure unless they are finally adopted by agency decision-makers ...

BLOG | NOAA’s Failure on the North Atlantic Right Whale 

by Tim Whitehouse | March 11, 2021
The North Atlantic right whale is one of the most critically endangered whales on the planet and NOAA's inaction is putting it on the path to extinction ...

BLOG | Can the Bureau of Land Management Shift Gears on Climate Change?

by Chandra Rosenthal | March 9, 2021
After years of mismanagement, does the Bureau of Land Management have the capacity to deliver on its climate change and conservation promises ...

BLOG | EPA’s Bad Chemistry Is Killing Us 

by Jeff Ruch | February 25, 2021
We cannot afford to wait for EPA to finally become a 21st century regulator of harmful chemicals that find our way into food, water, and air ...
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