SACRAMENTO — Democratic lawmakers charged the Schwarzenegger administration Friday with bullying the state's air board into softening enforcement of environmental laws, as two former top regulators testified that the governor's chief deputies routinely pressured them not to push ahead with policies that industry found objectionable.
At a hearing of the Assembly Committee on Natural Resources, the legislators attacked the aides at the center of the allegations, Chief of Staff Susan Kennedy and Cabinet Secretary Dan Dunmoyer, for refusing to testify. Committee Chairwoman Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) warned that she may try to force their appearance through subpoenas as her committee continues to investigate the implementation of California's landmark law to curb greenhouse gases.
The controversy at the state Air Resources Board, a regulatory body appointed by the governor but meant to work independently, has tarnished the governor's image as an environmental crusader and widened the rift between him and Democratic leaders over how to move forward in the effort to curb global warming.
"The pressure has been relentless, and it has all run one way," Catherine Witherspoon, a 22-year veteran of the board, told committee members. She said the administration's resistance to the board's efforts to curb global warming and improve air quality moved her to quit her post as executive director Monday. " 'Slow down. Do less. Go easier on industry.... ' Nothing was off-limits. We'd even get calls during our regulatory hearings with specific instructions on what to do."
She said administration officials went so far as to bar the board from making some of its own hiring decisions.
Witherspoon quit days after the governor fired the head of the board, Robert F. Sawyer. Sawyer provided the committee with a transcript of a voicemail from Dunmoyer directing him not to push the board to pass specific actions intended to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Sawyer also shared a letter he sent to Schwarzenegger after he was fired.
"Your staff has interjected itself in a manner that has compromised the independence and integrity of this board," the letter said. "Your staff does not have sufficient expertise or experience in, or understanding of, the science, technology, economics or legal aspects of air pollution control to direct the Air Resources Board in its work."
