Commentary

Senior Counsel

Peter has been an environmental, land use, and consumer attorney and advocate since 1983. He has held various roles in Washington, DC including Of Counsel at the Center for Food Safety; Vice President for U.S. Government Policy at Conservation International; Director of International Conservation at Defenders of Wildlife; and Staff Attorney at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Additionally, he worked as a contracted consultant on endangered species recovery efforts with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Turner Endangered Species Fund in New Mexico. Prior to that, he served as an Attorney and Policy Analyst for the U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, and was also in private law practice. His career has centered on bringing the best science to bear in environmental protection efforts; he has specialized in working with scientists so their findings can inform good policy, as well as in federal litigation. Most of his work has been in aid of wildlife conservation in the fields of pesticides, genetically modified organisms, invasive species, wildlife disease prevention, international trade, land use conflicts, and other areas. Peter received his law degree from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law and also has a master’s degree in Environmental Studies from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, with a focus on conservation biology.

COMMENTARY | Endangered Species Day: In Praise of the Combat Biologists

by Peter Jenkins | May 21, 2021
Combat biologists have helped ensure the success of the Endangered Species Act, working tirelessly for even the most humble creature ...

COMMENTARY | New England States Must Act on PFAS in Pesticides

by Tim Whitehouse | May 20, 2021
PFAS laden pesticides being sprayed aerially to control mosquitoes is yet another exposure to this ubiquitous forever chemical ...

COMMENTARY | Beefalo Befuddlement in Grand Canyon

by Jeff Ruch | May 17, 2021
Grand Canyon's plan to "lethally remove" 12 beefalo from its herd is fraught with ambiguity and lacking in scientific rationale ...

Op-Ed | The Park Service Has Lost Its Conservation Compass

by Jeff Ruch |
The Park Service has cut programmatic work on conservation of species like endangered sea turtles - what will it take for NPS to turn itself around ...

COMMENTARY | Dunn Landfill’s Environmental Injustice

by Monica Mercola | May 13, 2021
Dunn Landfill in New York impacts the residents of Rensselaer with problems like truck traffic, odor, dust and leachate ...

COMMENTARY | Migratory Birds Get a Lift with Proposed Rule Reversal

by Tim Whitehouse | May 11, 2021
To protect migratory birds and other living things, we not only need stronger environmental laws, but stronger IGs to ensure compliance ...