Washington, DC — The leadership torch is being passed at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), a national service organization for governmental workers addressing public health and resource protection. This month, PEER welcomes Tim Whitehouse as its third executive director since its founding in 1993.
Tim brings to PEER a strong understanding of the valuable role public employees play in protecting the environment. Tim was a senior enforcement attorney at the United States Environmental Protection Agency for 10 years. He was also head of the Law and Policy Program at the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation in Montreal, Canada for 5 years, and has worked as a consultant with companies and non-profit organizations focusing on environmental compliance and clean energy issues. Most recently, he was executive director of Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility, a Maryland-based organization that advocates for clean energy, improved controls over toxic pollutants, and nuclear disarmament.
“The work of PEER has never been more important,” said Whitehouse. “Donald Trump has ushered in a new era of employee activism. At a time when powerful forces are using government to maximize individual and corporate profit, PEER’s work with public employees provides a powerful and invaluable voice for ethical resource management, the impartial implementation of environmental laws, and the principles of good governance.”
As Executive Director, Whitehouse plans to focus on, among other issues, emphasizing enforcement as a key environmental issue, defending climate science and scientists, and remaking EPA following the disastrous tenure of the Trump administration.
The outgoing executive director Jeff Ruch will return to his native California to open a new PEER Pacific field office serving the five states (CA, OR, WA, AK, and HI) from an office in Oakland and to help with the leadership transition at PEER. Jeff helped start PEER, was its first General Counsel and has been its executive director since 1997.
“There is also a growing need for a strong PEER presence in in our western states,” stated Ruch, a second-generation Californian, who previously served as committee counsel in that state’s legislature. “The West is a battleground for so many of the issues public employees face and I expect to be busy.”
The new Pacific field operation will join PEER field offices covering New England, the Rocky Mountain states, Tennessee, and Florida. PEER assists public employees at all levels of government.
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Revisit PEER’s 25th anniversary in 2018