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op-ed

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: Science protections must be enforceable

by Jeff Ruch | September 6, 2020
“Recognizing that things have gotten so out of hand, Congress must enact new, strong enforcement mechanisms to free us from the grip of “alternative facts.” Failure to do so will mean we did not learn the hard lesson of the Trump experience and we have left the door open for it ...

Pence’s use of Fort McHenry threatens Park Service employees

by Peter Jenkins | August 26, 2020
“Using the Park Service for a blatantly political speech, such as accepting a nomination for a political role, presents a major hazard of violating the Hatch Act, which forbids any federal employee other than the president or vice president from engaging in political activity at ...

Op-Ed | End noncompetitive leasing of BLM lands for oil and gas exploration

by Chandra Rosenthal | August 22, 2020
“What this process has done over the years is allow oil and gas interests to hoard land on the tiny chance they might develop it. During the Trump administration, land virtually given away in noncompetitive leases has more than doubled from 141,000 acres in 2017 to nearly 379,000 in ...

OP-ED | Public Lands Are Key to Fighting Climate Change

by Elizabeth Duan | August 17, 2020
Public lands account for a quarter of the nation’s land area and nearly a quarter of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions through extraction and combustion of fossil fuels ...

Op-Ed | Public Lands Are Key to Fighting Climate Change

A new administration must stop address climate change, stop the fossil fuel madness and rapidly work to heal our degraded public lands ...