Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) is a left-of-center organization that provides legal assistance and resources to whistleblowers who speak out about environmental issues in state and federal agencies. PEER is funded both by donations and payouts from lawsuits and settlements.

Activities

In September 2023, attorneys from Advocates for the West sued the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on behalf of the Western Watersheds Project and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility who allege that the agency had not conducted environmental reviews for almost two-thirds of its 35,000 current grazing permits as required under the National Environmental Policy Act. ¹

Also in 2023, a Washington D.C. Circuit court judge denied a petition by PEER to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to expand the definition of “corrosive” waste to widen the coverage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976. ²

Since 2019, PEER has represented five scientists at the EPA who claim the agency has failed to properly regulate numerous cases of hazards associated with new commercial chemicals. According to PEER, the EPA has adjusted some of its policies in response to PEER, but has also retaliated against the five employees. ³

In May 2011, U.S. Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was reinstated by the Merit System Protection Board after a successful legal challenge by PEER. Chambers was fired by the U.S. Park Service after telling reporters that staff shortages were endangering park visitors. As part of the case’s outcome, PEER was paid $675,000 by the U.S. Department of the Interior. ⁴

In April 2011, PEER released a report entitled “Gulag EPA: Report Finds Discrimination Meltdown,” which compared the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s anti-discrimination program to Soviet prison camps. ⁵

Criticism

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility has been criticized for being too focused on publicity rather than cases it can plausibly win. Former PEER executive director Jeff Ruch responded, “If we can be an effective boogeyman of ‘You better do right or we’ll call in those assholes from PEER,’ then we’ve done our job.” ⁶

PEER has been criticized for highlighting minor issues at government agencies that could be handled internally, and needlessly costing the agencies time and money with expensive lawsuits. ⁷

In 2006, PEER issued a press release claiming that the U.S. Park Service was selling a book promoting creationist views because the administration of then-President George W. Bush had issued a gag order regarding the Park Service producing information that might contradict religious conservative principles. The Park Service denied that any such order was given. PEER amended its press release to remove the accusation. ⁸

According to Protect the Harvest, an animal agriculture advocacy group, PEER is an “unelected cabal” that “[conceals] people within government agencies who promote radical ideas behind the scenes.” Protect the Harvest alleged that may members of PEER leadership and staff are or previously were connected to radical groups. ⁹

Leadership

Tim Whitehouse has been the executive director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility since May 2019. From 2013 to 2019, Whitehouse was the executive director of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, a group that trains doctors on climate change and energy issues. From 2014 to 2019, Whitehouse also served on the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. Earlier, Whitehouse was an attorney at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for almost ten years. ¹⁰

Helen Pent Jenkins has been director of development and communications at PEER since April 2021. Jenkins previously worked for seven years at The Nature Conservancy, and earlier at the Seattle Audubon Society. ¹¹

Peter Jenkins is senior counsel at PEER. Jenkins previously worked at the Center for Food Safety, Conservation International, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Center for Science in the Public Interest. ¹²

Colleen Teuber is a litigation and policy attorney at PEER. Teuber was an Assistant District Attorney for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office in New York, and worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, the Office of the New York State Attorney General, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Defenders of Wildlife. ¹³

Elizabeth Duan is a communications and office assistant at PEER. Duan has worked or volunteered for New Virginia Majority, Education Reform Now, and Democrats for Education Reform. ¹⁴

Monica Mercola is a staff counsel at PEER. Mercola previously worked at Earthjustice and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. ¹⁵

Funding

Initially, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility was funded entirely by grants from nonprofit foundations. By the 2010s, 30 percent of the organization’s revenue came from program services, including payments made by federal agencies that lost suits to PEER. ¹⁶ In 2021, only $24,090 came from program services out of $1,177,028 of total revenue, compared to about 30 percent in 2020. ¹⁷

In 2022, PEER’s nonprofit funders included the Anderson-Rogers Foundation, Ceres Trust, the Cornell Douglas Foundation, the Firedoll Foundation, the Glaser Family Foundation, the Normandie Foundation, the Seattle Foundation, the Denver Foundation, the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, and the Wallace Global Fund. ¹⁸

1. Mohr, Kylie. “Conservation groups sue BLM for rangeland degradation.” High Country News. September 13, 2023. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://www.hcn.org/articles/bureau-of-land-management-conservation-groups-sue-blm-for-rangeland-degradation.
2. “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility v. ERA, No. 21-1187 (D.C. Cir. 2023).” Justia. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/cadc/21-1187/21-1187-2023-07-25.html.
3. “2022 Annual Report.” PEER. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://peer.org/report-peer-2022-annual-report-pdf/.
4. Mcardle, John. “’Being Disliked, But Feared’ Is Swaggering Advocacy Group’s Ambition.” The New York Times. May 24, 2011. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/24/24greenwire-being-disliked-but-feared-is-swaggering-advoca-61492.html.
5. Mcardle, John. “’Being Disliked, But Feared’ Is Swaggering Advocacy Group’s Ambition.” The New York Times. May 24, 2011. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/24/24greenwire-being-disliked-but-feared-is-swaggering-advoca-61492.html.
6. Mcardle, John. “’Being Disliked, But Feared’ Is Swaggering Advocacy Group’s Ambition.” The New York Times. May 24, 2011. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/24/24greenwire-being-disliked-but-feared-is-swaggering-advoca-61492.html.
7. Mcardle, John. “’Being Disliked, But Feared’ Is Swaggering Advocacy Group’s Ambition.” The New York Times. May 24, 2011. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/24/24greenwire-being-disliked-but-feared-is-swaggering-advoca-61492.html.
8. Mcardle, John. “’Being Disliked, But Feared’ Is Swaggering Advocacy Group’s Ambition.” The New York Times. May 24, 2011. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/24/24greenwire-being-disliked-but-feared-is-swaggering-advoca-61492.html.
9. ^[1] ““Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility”: Anonymous Activists Or Hidden Extremists.” Protect the Harvest. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://protecttheharvest.com/news/public-employees-for-environmental-responsibility-anonymous-activists-or-hidden-extremists/.
10. “Timothy Whitehouse.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothywhitehouse/.
11. “Helen Pent Jenkins joins PEER as Director of Development and Communications.” Development Guild. April 2021. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://www.developmentguild.com/completed-search/helen-pent-jenkins/.
12. “Staff and Board.” PEER. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://peer.org/about-us/staff-and-board/.
13. “Staff and Board.” PEER. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://peer.org/about-us/staff-and-board/.
14. “Staff and Board.” PEER. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://peer.org/about-us/staff-and-board/.
15. “Staff and Board.” PEER. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://peer.org/about-us/staff-and-board/.
16. Mcardle, John. “’Being Disliked, But Feared’ Is Swaggering Advocacy Group’s Ambition.” The New York Times. May 24, 2011. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/05/24/24greenwire-being-disliked-but-feared-is-swaggering-advoca-61492.html.
17. “Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility Form 990.” ProPublica. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/931102740/202330489349301443/full.
18. “2022 Annual Report.” PEER. Accessed October 10, 2023. https://peer.org/report-peer-2022-annual-report-pdf/.