Posted on 08/31/2005 7:03:56 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Senate committee on Wednesday recommended removing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's appointee to head the state Air Resources Board, an agency that has led the nation in cutting air pollution and reducing automobile emissions.
A vote by the full Senate was scheduled for Thursday. The committee, on a party-line vote, cited the polarizing influence of Cindy Tuck as chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. She has held the job for just six weeks after two decades representing the oil and energy industries.
The air board has enacted numerous regulations that have been mimicked by other states and adopted, however reluctantly, by industries that want to do business in the nation's most populous state.
Schwarzenegger immediately urged the Senate to disregard the committee's recommendation, saying Tuck's "expertise and experience is vital to ensuring California continues to lead the nation in setting air quality standards."
Wednesday's 3-2 recommendation by the Senate Rules Committee goes to the Democrat-controlled Senate for consideration before next week's adjournment. Rejection by the Senate means Tuck would have to leave office within 60 days.
Tuck is well qualified but carries too much baggage to be credible after leadership roles with the California Council for Economic and Environmental Balance, said Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, one of the no votes.
The group represents industry and organized labor in trying to minimize the costs to business of environmental regulations and legislation.
Tuck swore that she would uphold the Republican governor's environmental agenda that sets ambitious targets for clean air and greenhouse gas reduction. She said that in the last two years she has become more sympathetic to the positions of the air board and the California Environmental Protection Agency, and has tried to be a "modifying force" on opponents.
"I did not pursue this position to represent the business community. That would be the wrong thing to do," Tuck told senators. "You have my word that I will be objective and I will be a leader for clean air."
She declined comment after the committee's vote.
"You had every major polluter in the state support this confirmation," said Tim Carmichael, president and chief executive officer of the Coalition for Clean Air.
Every major environmental and clean air organization opposed it.
Schwarzenegger and business groups said Tuck's years of experience make her an excellent choice for chairwoman.
She has spent a career as a licensed environmental engineer and attorney helping to craft environmental policy and legislation. Schwarzenegger, in a statement, said Tuck "has a proven track record as a consensus builder, bringing together diverse groups with opposing viewpoints to find what is in the best interest of the people of California."
Barry Broad, who represents the Teamsters and Machinists unions, told the committee that, "The business community has a lot more to fear than the environmental community ... because she knows where the bodies are buried." The unions support Tuck.
Republican senators and the administration complained that Democratic senators rushed Tuck to an early confirmation hearing instead of waiting nearly a year, which is often the case.
But Democratic senators said Schwarzenegger broke tradition by appointing a lobbyist instead of someone with a science or regulatory background to head the board. Moreover, Schwarzenegger was warned in advance that appointing Tuck would create opposition, said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Redondo Beach, another opposition vote.
The battle continues -- unions, liberals and the real people of the state...
The group represents industry and organized labor in trying to minimize the costs to business of environmental regulations and legislation.
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minimizing costs to businesses?
some 'crime'.
well it is to c'Rats, anyway.
Does California's system allow for recess appointments?
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