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For over 50 years, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has pursued groundbreaking regulatory measures and environmental justice efforts that improve air quality and mitigate climate change impacts. CARB’s efforts often are replicated internationally, at the federal level, and by other states; they frequently trigger a flood of litigation. Join a lively discussion with the current Chief Counsel Shannon Martin Dilley and the recently retired Chief Counsel Ellen M. Peter on how a state agency fulfills its mandate and navigates legal risks. Spoiler alert: a key concern is who is the President!
Ellen M. Peter retired in March 2025 after almost 17 years as Chief Counsel of the California Air Resources Board, the state’s air quality and climate regulatory agency.
After graduating from George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C. in 1976, Ellen started her legal career representing low-income people in civil cases, primarily with the California Rural Legal Assistance (1977–1985). During the next 23 years of her career, Ellen represented a range of state agency clients while at the California Attorney General’s Office. She litigated scores of cases, including enforcement cases, concerning water quality, air quality, waste, mining, environmental review, endangered species, and other topics. From 2004 to 2008, Ellen led the legal team from the California Attorney General, other states’ Attorney General offices, and non-profits that successfully defended against the auto industry’s multi-state assault on California’s first greenhouse gas car emissions standards.
While chief counsel at CARB (2008-2025), Ellen managed both the Legal Office and the Enforcement Division and was a member of the executive team. She was personally involved in significant enforcement cases, including the lawsuits against Volkswagen for its diesel emissions cheating.
Recently, the California Lawyers Association’s Environmental Law Section announced that Ellen was selected as the 2025 recipient of its annual Lifetime Achievement Award to be presented at the Yosemite environmental law conference in October.
Shannon Dilley became CARB’s Chief Counsel in May 2025. She started in the Legal Office at CARB in 2015 and had served as one of the Assistant Chief Counsels since 2021. She is a member of the Abenaki Tribe in Vermont and has been instrumental in expanding CARB’s work with tribes; she helped create the tribal program and previously served as CARB’s Tribal Liaison. Shannon also became the California delegate for the Governor’s Climate and Forest Task, which identifies different approaches to help scale key climate policies and forest protections by local and regional jurisdictions in the U.S., Mexico, South America, Indonesia, and elsewhere. She has also resolved numerous enforcement cases, was part of the negotiation team for some of CARB’s largest vehicle enforcement cases, and she provided key strategic advice in various litigation matters.
Before Shannon moved to California, she practiced criminal law in Vermont as both a prosecutor and defense counsel. Shannon attended the University of Vermont and has an undergraduate degree, a masters degree, a law degree, and also an advanced law LLM degree in environmental law.