Calif. Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday named Liane Randolph as the next chairman of the California Air Resources Board, the clean-air agency that has shaped environmental policy across the U.S.
Randolph, 55, is in line to succeed Mary Nichols, 75, the retiring chairman who has led CARB since 2007 and is on the short list to lead President-elect Joe Biden’s EPA next year. The position requires state Senate confirmation.
“Cleaner air is essential for California’s families and Liane Randolph is the kind of bold, innovative leader that will lead in our fight against climate change with equity and all California’s communities at heart,” Newsom said in a statement Wednesday.
Randolph, a Democrat, has been a commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission since 2015. Before that, she was deputy secretary and general Counsel at the California Natural Resources Agency from 2011-14.
