Riddles Wrapped In Conundrums And Enveloped In Mysteries

Mary Nichols is the new California ARB Chair:

Mary Nichols will take over the embattled Air Resources Board, where she previously served as chair 30 years ago under then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. She also served as secretary of resources under Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, and as a high-ranking environmental official in the Clinton administration.

Her appointment follows the recent departure of two top board officials who each complained publicly that meddling by the Schwarzenegger administration on behalf of business interests limited their ability to draft effective regulations for curbing greenhouse gas emissions and improving air quality.

Nichols replaces Robert Sawyer, who says he was fired after pushing to implement more aggressive action to curb global warming than the administration supports. While administration officials claimed Sawyer was fired for not being tough enough, the displaced chair's claims were backed up by the former executive officer of the board, Catherine Witherspoon, a longtime veteran of the agency who quit Monday.

Witherspoon said she and her staff were also pressured by the administration to ease a crackdown on heavy diesel construction equipment after industry representatives complained the draft regulations were too tough.

But the appointment of Nichols, one of the state's first environmental attorneys, is likely to blunt complaints from administration critics that Schwarzenegger's actions on the environment are not living up to his bold promises.