Governor to Appoint Democrat as Head of Cal-EPA

Linda Adams will be named director of the California Environmental Protection Agency today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an administration source said.

“With more than 30 years of service to the state ... Linda Adams is eminently qualified to serve as secretary for the Cal-EPA,” said Bill Maile, spokesman on environmental issues for the governor’s office.

Adams, 57, a Democrat who has won praise from environmentalists, worked in high-ranking jobs for both state Controller Steve Westly and Gov. Gray Davis, and ran the state Department of Water Resources, among other positions.

Westly is running against Treasurer Phil Angelides in the Democratic primary to unseat Schwarzenegger in November.

Adams said she was “very excited” by the opportunity, and “obviously I’ll support my [new] boss” in the election. “I think the governor is going in the right direction on these issues.”

Environmental lobbyists said Schwarzenegger had made a shrewd campaign move by picking her, and a good policy choice.

“She’s terrific,” said V. John White, executive director of the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies, a Sacramento-based environmental group. “This appointment tells me the governor is going to run on a very strong environmental platform.”

Adams, whose appointment must be confirmed by the Senate, would earn $131,412 a year.

She would oversee half a dozen air and water agencies in the state, just as major battles are shaping up over Schwarzenegger’s far-reaching infrastructure and air emissions plans.

White and others said Adams was instrumental in getting the greenhouse gas tailpipe emissions reduction bill passed and signed by Davis, and in getting renewable energy standards set.

“She’s very experienced at doing policy.... Nobody’s going to push her around,” White said.

Industry groups did not comment on Adams’ appointment Thursday but reiterated their opposition to mandatory “cap-and-trade” programs on greenhouse gas emissions and other costly control programs.

“We hope any EPA secretary will recognize that California is already one of the most effective states in the country in terms of greenhouse gas emissions reductions,” said Gino DiCaro, spokesman for the California Manufacturers and Technology Assn. “California manufacturers have already spent a lot of money becoming more efficient. To put any more mandates on them ... [will] just send the manufacturers to other states, where they have less stringent climate mandates.”