Investing in the Earth

It’s getting cooler here in Maryland and in many parts of the country. And with the end of summer comes the end of our summer fundraising campaign. PEER relies on donations to make up over a quarter of our revenue – revenue used to provide pro bono legal representation, hold governments accountable through legal action, and conduct research to support our efforts towards conservation, climate health, chemical regulation, public health, and wildlife protection.  

This year we were blown away by the enthusiasm of PEER supporters – easily surpassing the $60,000 matching grant by a generous donor. With dozens of first-time donors, and many donors setting up recurring gifts to help sustain our work, we are humbled by your passion and your generosity. 

You made an investment in us and we want to share the great work your donations are supporting. 

• Chemical Regulation: A PEER lawsuit has been putting enormous pressure on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clearly and comprehensively define per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) – the first step towards stricter regulation and slowing down the national tide of PFAS contamination. The lawsuit revealed that EPA has no scientific or legal basis for the PFAS definition it is currently using – a definition we suspect is influenced more by chemical industry interests than scientific or public health concerns. 
• Climate Health: This summer we kicked off a three-year model national transparency program in Maryland for renewable energy standards. This model would require states to produce a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources and reveal how much of renewable energy subsidies are being directed to dirty electricity sources like burning waste and wood. Maryland recently agreed to all elements of our petition, and we look forward to applying these standards to other states.  
• Conservation: As part of our efforts to maintain the health and sustainability of our public lands, we recently sued the Bureau of Land Management for failing to conduct the required environmental reviews for public lands available for grazing. Almost two-thirds of its 35,000 current grazing permits are for allotments that have not even been assessed for land health standards, including those around national monuments and national conservation areas. Our goal is to ensure these lands are sustainably managed for recreation, wildlife habitat, and clean water sources and not just the benefit of commercial grazing and oil and gas companies. 

So what’s next? For us, the work never stops. With partners like you, we’ll keep fighting – fighting to protect the environment and the public employees who have long been its stewards.  

But today we just want to say thank you. Thank you for your commitment to PEER and to the work we do. Thank you for your online support, your emails, your generosity, and your spirit.  

Thank you for investing in PEER and investing in the earth. 

Despite historic use of toxic PFAS chemicals at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, California’s public health agencies are not monitoring the migration of these chemicals and have no plans to clean them up. Contamination from PFAS contamination has become a major public health concern in California but has been ignored at one of the nation’s most polluted sites. Read More »

PEER and Western Watersheds Project filed a lawsuit faulting the BLM for widespread resource and environmental damage caused by overgrazing and seeking to require BLM to establish a schedule to complete long overdue environmental assessments on thousands of commercial livestock grazing allotments. Read More »