Peter helped create the California Coastal Commission and organized efforts to get it passed as a popular initiative in 1972. He wrote the language of the Coastal Act passed into law in 1976 and went on to work for the Commission to assure public access and deny reckless development along California’s 1,100 miles of stunning coastline. Executive Director from 1985 to 2011 when he resigned following a long and ongoing battle with cancer, Peter has been compared to John Muir and Ansel Adams as a hero of the state’s environment. "The coast is never saved," he points out to today’s citizen activists. "The coast is always being saved." Peter was recently featured in an original short film by the Oprah Winfrey Network.