News Clips

From: Outside “Per the complaint, the three acting directors were appointed in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, meaning every action taken by these men, PEER executive director Jeff Ruch writes, “is incurably void and invalid.”” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: Herald Tribune ““Florida’s manatees are one big freeze away from an ecological disaster and need more, not less, protection,” PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch said in a statement. “Manatees may join polar bears as one of the first iconic victims of extinction in the wild ...

From: Florida Today “More than 150 manatees died in just the first seven weeks of 2018, putting Florida on pace to set an annual record for manatee deaths, according to the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a nonprofit government watchdog group.” Read more ...

From: WPTV “According to the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, 166 manatees have died so far this year. Cold weather is to blame for 51.” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: ClickOrlando.com “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Executive Director Jeff Ruch says Florida manatees are one big freeze away from an ecological disaster.” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: Winknews “The first two months of 2018 has been catastrophic for Florida manatees, according to data collected by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: The Washington Post “Jeff Ruch, executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which filed a complaint about three of the Interior positions with the department’s inspector general, said Zinke is trying to get around the Vacancies Reform Act, “but it ...

From: Fox4 “Manatee deaths could see a new record high this year, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). PEER says there have been 154 manatee deaths in seven weeks.” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: Tampa Bay Times “The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Executive Director Jeff Ruch says Florida manatees are one big freeze away from an ecological disaster.” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: KHOU “When water temperatures stay below 68 degrees Fahrenheit for weeks at a time, manatees suffer cold-stress syndrome. That causes weight loss, fat loss, dehydration and other health problems that can kill them weeks later, PEER notes. Juvenile manatees are especially at risk. ...

From: Futurism “Ironically, the goals of the Hatch Act to remove partisanship from federal service and base personnel solely on merit, seem farther away even as the Act extends into cyberspace. The ability of federal employees to candidly discuss the people’s business has never been ...

From: KUER ““The fact that we have a president who is sort of the Twitterer-in-Chief in a position to basically shut down social media competition is another one of the ironies here,” said Jeff Ruch, who works for the advocacy group, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility ...

From: Motherboard ““Federal employees who get into Twitter spats with Donald Trump face career risks that the Tweeter-in-Chief does not” Read more . . . Read the PEER story ...

From: The Hill “Signed under the radar, Zinke’s Jan. 12 order gave the acting directors for such bureaus as the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Park Service “temporary re-delegation of authority,” according to the order obtained by watchdog group Public Employees for ...

From: Greenwire “Last month, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility asked Interior’s inspector general to probe the agency’s use of temporary or acting directors and whether it had violated the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, possibly making decisions invalid ( ...

From: LA Times “The effort is aimed at removing federal Clean Water Act protection from millions of miles of streams and wetlands, including more than 80% of the waters in California and the arid West. The administration last month suspended for two years the new guidelines protecting ...

From: The Daily Yonder ““While heavily subsidized grazing is not new to this administration, reducing low fees even further is a step in the wrong direction,” said Kirsten Stade, advocacy director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). “Keeping grazing ...

From: CNN “Internal emails obtained by the nonprofit group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, and shared with CNN, show the logistical hoops Park Service staff jumped through when they had to divert an agency boat from its usual Ventura, California, location to meet Zinke ...

From: Buzzfeed News “”By merging these offices, to me, it seems like another nail in the coffin of science,” Kyla Bennett, who ran wetland enforcement and permitting in EPA’s New England region under the Clinton and Bush administrations.” Read more . . . Read the ...

From: Tulsa World “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, known as CREW, say that Pruitt and other EPA officials avoid keeping notes on important issues to avoid leaving a paper trail the public and press can ...