Governor Schwarzenegger has tapped a Democrat to replace the recently fired Air Resources Board Chair. The new appointee starts amid upheaval at the agency in charge of overseeing greenhouse gas reductions in California. From Sacramento, Marianne Russ reports.
Schwarzenegger has chosen Mary Nichols -- director of the UCLA Institute of the Environment, and a former top environmental official for Governors Gray Davis and Jerry Brown.
At a news conference, Nichols said she was very pleased at the opportunity. The former Chair, Robert Sawyer, was fired last week. The Executive Director resigned this week -- and accused the governor's staff of blocking efforts to fight global warming.
Schwarzenegger calls that accusation unfair. And Nichols says she's clear on what the board's role should be in the future.
Nichols : I think I've come to a comfortable understanding that the Air Resources board can do its job and do it in the historical way that it has, which is with independence and good judgment.
She added that she was clear on the governor's priorities, which include the implementation of a cap on greenhouse gases.
