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Governor Names Industry Lobbyist to Clean Air Post

Oppose Cynthia Tuck as California Air Resources Board chair

Since 1967, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been a leader of national and global significance in the fight against air pollution. Under governors of both major parties, CARB has been instrumental in reducing pollutants from cars & stationary sources. Its effectiveness throughout the years has often been due to the independence and vigorous advocacy of its chairs.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed Cynthia Tuck to chair CARB. According to Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, Tuck represents “major oil companies and the power plant industry” and “has opposed every major air quality law passed by the Legislature in recent years” in her role as lobbyist for the California Coalition for Environmental and Economic Balance.

Tuck has spent her career on behalf of polluting industries consistently opposing measures to improve air quality. In 2003, she opposed SB 288 (Sher), a bill that established clean air protections for power plants in California to replace those removed by the Bush administration. She also opposed passage of the historical 2002 Global Warming law, AB 1493 (Pavley), which Schwarzenegger has supported in a very public way.

There are plenty of examples at the federal level of what happens when lobbyists move from industry groups to the agencies that regulate them. For example, Gale Norton, a former industry lobbyist and James Watt protégée, has been disastrous at the Department of the Interior, advocating for offshore drilling and mining on federal lands.

History suggests, at best, a conflict of interest—at worst, a considerable reduction in CARB’s effectiveness, resulting in more sick people from dirty air. Tuck’s nomination is an explicitly anti-environmental choice by the Schwarzenegger administration. Governor Schwarzenegger has repeatedly stated his commitment to protecting the environment, but actions speak louder than words. Coupled with his budget cuts of millions of dollars in environmental funding using a line-item veto, his nomination of an industry lobbyist to the most important air quality position in California (and arguably in the nation) sends a disturbing signal from a Governor who is not living up to his stated promises.

What You Can Do

Though she is already on the job, Tuck's nomination is subject to confirmation by the Senate Rules Committee, in a hearing scheduled August 31. If she is confirmed in committee, the full Senate will vote on her nomination the following week. Please write, phone, or fax your Senator and ask him or her to oppose confirmation of Cynthia Tuck as Chair of CARB.

Victory!

Cynthia Tuck's confirmation as Chair of the California Air Resources Board failed on the Senate floor, 24-15, on Thursday, September 1st. Thank you to all of you who have already taken political action. This is a major victory for the environmental community and an example of what we can accomplish when we all work together on a common goal.