Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday named a personable energy industry lobbyist who has fought against many of the state's toughest air pollution regulations to head California's powerful air quality agency.
Cindy Tuck, whose efforts on behalf of oil refineries and power plants include opposing a landmark law to combat global warming that the governor champions, was named chairwoman of the Air Resources Board.
Although environmentalists denounced the appointment, business groups and some air quality officials supported Schwarzenegger's choice of Tuck, a registered lobbyist for the California Council for Environmental and Economic Balance.
"Her expertise is vital to ensuring California continues to lead the nation in setting air quality standards while at the same time balancing the need to keep our economy strong and thriving," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
But Democrats in the California Senate vowed to block Tuck's appointment, calling her unfit to head the internationally renowned air pollution agency that forced automakers to add catalytic converters three decades ago and approved regulations to reduce greenhouse gases from car tailpipes last year.
"As a lobbyist for major oil companies and the power plant industry, who has opposed every major air quality law passed by the Legislature in recent years, Ms. Tuck is not the right person to help the board carry out its mission of protecting the air our families breathe," said Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata (D-Oakland).
Supporters described Tuck, a 45-year-old Sacramento lawyer, as a personable behind-the-scenes player who has demonstrated a willingness to compromise on many environmental issues.
"We have worked with Cindy Tuck for many years and she has always worked to bring people together," said Barry Wallerstein, executive officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which is charged with fighting smog in the Los Angeles region. "Sometimes you have to separate the person from who they are representing, unless they have crossed some moral line."
But opponents said Tuck routinely opposed California's most ambitious air pollution measures, making her a particularly poor choice to lead the state's fight against smog and global warming.
"What's really alarming is that this is the kind of appointment that [President] Bush makes, putting someone from an industry in charge of the government agency that is supposed to be cleaning up that industry," said Sierra Club lobbyist Bill Magavern.
