Departed Chair and Executive Officer of California Air Resources Board Present Powerful Testimony on Schwarzenegger Administration Interference in Implementation of AB 32 on Global Warming

Skopec no longer works for the Schwarzenegger Administration as of a week ago, and has started his own firm, "Climate & Energy Consulting" on Sacramento's K Street Mall, to serve clients he described as "emerging technologies companies that will take advantage of the changes in energy that will result from climate policies." Despite repeated questions from committee members, he refused to reveal who in the Administration had asked him to testify, who he had spoken to about the hearing, who had prepped him, and what he was told. Although he repeatedly testified about actions of the Schwarzenegger Administration using the word "we", he later apologized for the use of that word which he is accustomed to use. He later admitted that he was not speaking for the Schwarzenegger Administration, but was basically there as a private citizen.

Skopec snidely told the committee that the testimony of both Sawyer and Witherspoon "belonged in the fiction section of any bookstore." That raised eyebrows of the Assemblymembers present and he was asked for specifics to back up that charge. Assemblymember Pedro Nava of Santa Barbara was prompted by these remarks to state, "The smear has begun." He cautioned the press attending the hearing against merely printing the press releases of the Administration that would follow the hearing.

Tellingly, there was no response from the Governor's himself or in the form of press releases or postings on the Governor's site, despite the fact that Adam Mendelsohn, his Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications, was present throughout the hearing. With the introduction into the record of documents with the names of Kennedy, Dunmoyer, and Linda Adams, the Secretary of the California EPA into the record, there is no direct contradiction of what is contained in them.

There is now talk of subpoenaing witnesses to future hearings in the Assembly. The California Senate Rules Committee will hold hearings next week preliminary to the confirmation of Mary Nichols as the new CARB Chair.

Hancock, chair of the committee, said: “I am extremely disappointed the Schwarzenegger administration did not send the key players involved in the departure of the top two Air Resources Board officials. We need to ensure that the Board is independent and making decisions that are scientifically based. It is imperative that we get to the bottom of what transpired over the last two weeks so we can restore the credibility of this important agency. The board should be making scientifically based decisions without political influence from the Governor’s Office.”

Committee members were urged by Tutt to get beyond the past on this issue. Despite the expressed desire of Assemblymembers to do so, and the stated intent of the hearing to focus on the implementation of AB 32 and the future, several of those on the dais expressed their difficulties in doing so. They cited the history of AB 32--from the details of the negotiations that had taken place before it was enacted and the actions of the Governor's office starting with his Executive Order issued in November, which at the time was criticized as not faithfully following the law. To many, if not all of them, at yesterday's hearing, the firing of Robert Sawyer and the resignation of Catherine Witherspoon under a failed attempt to have him fire her, is just the latest in a pattern of action.

What came out repeatedly in the hearing is the centrality of CARB to the actual realization of the goals of reduction of greenhouse gases mandated by AB 32. Members pointed out that the Governor had wanted the Climate Advisory Board that he had convened before AB 32 to be the chief body assigned with this task. However, the Speaker of the Assembly, then Assemblymember Fran Pavley who originated AB 32, and others insisted that the CARB, known for its independence and making its decisions on scientific grounds be the body in charge.

Despite CARB's history of relative independence, the fact was brought out at the hearing that its members, including the chair, serve at the pleasure of the governor and can be removed. There are no fixed terms as there are for other boards and commissions, such as the California Coastal Commission. Therein lies the rub, and there is a palpable fear that with the line being crossed here, despite the appointment of Mary Nichols, a respected environmentalist to chair the board, that the board itself needs to be insulated from political pressures.

Dr. Sawyer, in his testimony, complimented Catherine Witherspoon for resigning from her position as the Executive Officer of CARB since she serves in that position at the pleasure of the board itself. Despite the desire of Susan Kennedy, Schwarzenegger's Chief of Staff, to have her fired, this could not be accomplished directly by the Governor. Sawyer said he had been ordered to place this on the agenda and met with a subcommittee of the board only to find out that there was a consensus of fellow board members not to do so. It was feared that had Witherspoon remained in the position that individual board members would be removed until there was a majority willing to fire her.

Does this remind one of the Saturday massacre involving U.S. Attorney General Elliott Richardson and Archibald Cox during the Watergate scandal of the Nixon Administration?

Sawyer and Witherspoon did not want the CARB to lose the many members of the board who know the science, the policies needed to implement AB 32, and have irreplaceable historical knowledge in this field.

The integrity of the California Air Resources Board necessitated this hearing. There will be legislation on the terms of office of its members and continuing oversight of that body as a result of this hearing. It was only a start.

Speaker Nunez put it this way: “As the author of California’s gold-standard global warming legislation, I do have serious concerns with aspects of the administration’s approach to AB 32’s implementation. The unfortunate circumstances surrounding the dismissal of Dr. Sawyer and the loss of Ms. Witherspoon – who have each made outstanding contributions to the Air Resources Board and to our state as a whole – point out a troubling situation. On the one hand we have a board filled with gubernatorial pleasure appointments. On the other hand we have a board that requires a strong level of self-determination and distance from executive branch interference to be effective.”

“After having served 10 years on the California Air Resources Board, I’m shocked and angered that the Governor, Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Dunmoyer refuse to take seriously the Assembly’s Oversight Hearing of the Air Resources Board,” said Assemblymember Mark DeSaulnier (D-Martinez), a former CARB member. “It is an insult for the Administration to send a low-level staffer and a former member of the Administration who just announced his energy consulting firm. Neither of these staff worked at the Air Resources Board, but they clearly were sent to stonewall our effort. I, for one, am not done asking questions of this administration. We need to see the communication – email voicemail or otherwise – that led to the Administration’s removal of these Air Resources Board employees.”

At the suggestion of former CARB officials, the Natural Resources Committee is considering methods to ensure that CARB is not subject to undue political interference. Allowing CARB members to serve fixed terms as opposed to serving at the pleasure of the Governor was one proposal. Exploring ways to ensure that all communications between the executive branch and the independent board are on the record and in the public domain was another. It was also proposed that CARB appointments be divided between the Assembly Speaker, Senate President pro Tem, and Governor, as is done with a number of state entities, including the California Coastal Commission and the California Energy Commission.

“We’re not here today to debate cap and trade. That debate ended the day the governor signed AB 32,” Nunez said. “While AB 32 allows for cap and trade to be evaluated along with other market based approaches down the road – and that evaluation will determine how limited a role cap and trade is to play – it will be the regulations promulgated by the ARB that will make or break AB 32.”

Governor Schwarzenegger has recently insisted that AB 32 implementation incorporate a cap-and-trade system, but while AB 32 allows for future consideration of a cap-and-trade approach, further CARB study and legislative action would be required to incorporate it as part of California’s efforts to combat global warming.