Schwarzenegger's first two years - still just a shade of green

The environment is one of the areas that held the most promise in terms of Arnold Schwarzenegger being a different kind of Republican and a bold leader. He had a very good platform coming in that was embodied in his Action Plan for California's Environment. In his first press conference after the recall election, he acknowledged what corporate polluters don't want the general public to know, that is, that there is no conflict between having a strong economy and a clean environment. The governor said to reporters when he was running for office that the environment would be "no problem".

But on the two-year anniversary of his election, is he really the environmental governor he said he would be and now claims he is?

What we looked at

This is the second year that Sierra Club California has examined the governor's record in multiple areas - appointments, administrative actions, legislation, and the budget. We looked at all of the subject areas that constitute the environmental arena, such as air quality, parks, coastal protection, forestry, toxics, and water quality and supply. We revisited his statements and positions from the recall campaign, his two years in office, and from his Action Plan for California's Environment (2003).

What did we find out?

Schwarzenegger's top-level appointments to key cabinet and agency positions continue to be mixed. Bringing Terry Tamminen in as secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) brought cheers from the environmental community, and when he was moved into the governor's office, there was much anticipation about his replacement. Environmental groups were relieved when the governor appointed Alan Lloyd to replace Tamminen. There has been some slippage overall, but not much due to this change.

But his other high level appointments continue to be peppered with people closely associated with the industries they are to oversee. The most prominent example of this was the appointing of Cindy Tuck to replace Lloyd as chair of the Air Resources Board. This turned into a very public fight between the governor and the legislature and environmental groups, ending in her rejection by the State Senate. In our opinion, too many of his appointments do not reflect a governor whose is trying to establish a lasting environmental legacy. The Board of Forestry and the Coastal Commission stand out in this respect. Finally, it remains true that Schwarzenegger draws his appointees from diverse backgrounds and party affiliations, which is a breath of fresh air in politics.

The California League of Conservation Voters assessed the governor a score of 58% for signing environmental legislation in his first year, 2004. It appears he is headed for the same kind of record in 2005. He vetoed some of the most important bills, but signed a scattering of other good legislation. In counting the Sierra Club's requests to sign or veto bills, he did what we asked him to do 56% of the time. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce seems to have a much easier time convincing him of what is important for California; of bills that they asked him to veto, he signed only one and vetoed the other 15. Thankfully, the administration withdrew draft legislation that was a broadside attack on the California Environmental Quality Act and other local planning laws.

We suggest that a major achievement of his administration would be to successfully apply pressure to the Republican members of the legislature to get their environmental voting records to at least a respectable level. Schwarzenegger has said the environment is a top priority for him, but why doesn't he make the environment the nonpartisan issue it should be and lean on Republican leaders to help get legislation to protect and restore our air, water, and land to his desk? To achieve a truly lasting environmental legacy, Schwarzenegger needs to pry Republicans in Sacramento from the grip of corporate polluters and developers so that the environment can be acknowledged as a nonpartisan cause that benefits all Californians and the economy. This would be a true "reform" of the process.

Over the last two years, Schwarzenegger has stepped forward several times to resist the extreme anti-environmental administration in Washington, helping to sway the administration in behind-the-scenes as well as public moves. On the other hand, he went to Ohio to help President Bush win reelection, an action that means four more years of hostility towards environmental laws and give-aways on public lands. Most recently, he let Rep. Pombo and the Republican caucus in Washington know that we should not be opening up new areas off the coast to drilling for gas and oil. The governor is in touch with this overwhelmingly one-sided issue for Californians, that is, they don't want our coastline and ocean drilled.

For the second year in a row, the governor generally did not attack the budgets of already pared-down resource and environmental agencies during these very trying fiscal conditions. In other words, he did not use the huge deficit as an excuse to cut environmental agencies, something that indicates his basic support of environmental protection for California. He did, however, make some very disappointing vetoes this past summer, most notably of the Coastal Commission and Department of Fish and Game budgets. These agencies have been severely under-funded for many years, yet Schwarzenegger blue-penciled relatively small augmentations that the legislature made. Wouldn't a "green" governor have found a way to pay for a few more staff at these agencies?

The Governor's California Performance Review Commission's recommendations were generally poorly received. Some good ideas for efficiency that would help the environment were lost in a sea of give-aways to big corporations. Unfortunately, the governor pushed ahead with some of the worst of CPR's recommendation in the form of Government Reorganization Plan 1. After being soundly beaten up by the Little Hoover Commission, the legislature, and environmental and other public-interest groups, this aspect of his so-called reform agenda was quietly dropped. Sierra Club California found some serious problems in the recommendations on CPR and GRP 1, but also found several streamlining ideas that would be helpful in protecting public and environmental health. We hope his next move is on the side of the public and real efficiency, not special-interest profit.

The Governor's failed "reform" agenda, which actually would have taken power from the average citizen and the legislature, and given it to the executive branch and big corporations, troubles us, particularly since he bills himself as "the People's Governor". Maybe now he will finally define "special interests" as oil, logging, construction, and chemical companies. We hope he lives up to his rhetoric from his successful election campaign, when he said, "any of those kinds of real big, powerful special interests, if you take money from them, you owe them something."

Conclusion

Schwarzenegger is certainly greener than his Republican gubernatorial predecessors in many ways, but has quite a way to go to catch up to his immediate predecessor, Gray Davis. His Environmental Action Plan, while not comprehensive, is ambitious, and if implemented would be a solid achievement. In our opinion, a major achievement for the remainder of his term would be to "green up" the Republican caucus, by getting it to help put significant pieces of environmental legislation on his desk for his signature.

After his failed and unpopular special election, there is much talk about him returning to his original intentions of being very bipartisan. We hope so, and the perfect place to begin is with the environment. When he was running for governor, he made it clear that he understood that environmental stewardship was a priority for our citizens and that it was not inconsistent with having a strong economy.

After 24 months in office, we are still not ready to deem him green. But if he returns to the environmental principles he espoused early on, and then aggressively makes the environment a top priority for his administration, he can become the environmental hero he says he wants to be.

Summary of issue areas

Forestry. The governor appointed an anti-government, anti-union partisan political activist with no relevant resource-management experience to the Board of Forestry.

Fisheries/habitat. A mixed record: an improved Fish and Game Commission, but vetoed several important bills.

Water. A mixed year on water issues. The situation at CalFed continues to deteriorate as the agency continues to push for more Delta water exports to Southern California, while different fish populations are collapsing. On the plus side, the administration and Department of Water Resources have began to take a look at fixing our crumbling Delta levee system (see article, page 9) and addressing the risks of flooding in the Central Valley. On the other hand, he fired the well-respected members of the Reclamation Board, the agency charged with flood protection in the Valley, and replaced them with farmers and engineers with mostly no flood management experience.

Coast. This is an area in which Schwarzenegger promised to be strong but his record is a disappointment overall. All but one of his appointees to the Coastal Commission favors development over preservation and favors local government over the statewide interest they are sworn to uphold. While his legislative record is excellent and his Ocean Initiative is starting to pay dividends, his veto of additional funds for the Coastal Commission was disconcerting.

Land Use. Although he said he would be a "smart growth" governor, his administration proposed legislation in 2005 that would have busted major holes in the California Environmental Quality Act and local planning laws. Siding with the building industry, he took focus away from the need to reform land-use planning, solve transportation problems, and preserve farmland and open space, and instead had his surrogates unabashedly pursue the agenda of the home-building industry.

Energy. The governor showed strong leadership on renewable-energy issues this year. He sponsored his Millions Solar Roofs initiative, a 13-year, $3 billion commitment to expand solar energy in the state. He continued to advocate for increased power generation from renewable sources. He also advocated against bad federal energy legislation and opposed continued threats to open up oil and gas drilling off the coast of California. He does, however, favor power generation from so-called "clean" coal to meet the state's energy needs.

Solid waste/recycling. The governor has signed a series of recycling bills, and his administration has implemented the major electronic-waste-recycling plan enacted prior to his election. On the other hand, he tried to eliminate the Integrated Waste Management Board, and the board has floundered with his appointee as chair.

Toxics/pesticides. Actions have vacillated between moving forward to safeguard public health from toxic substances, including pesticides, and allowing industry lobbies to block such progress.

Enforcement. Gov. Schwarzenegger struck a huge blow against the enforcement of environmental safeguards by his support of Proposition 64, which helped to carry that measure to victory. On the positive side, the administration has moved to implement his promise to strictly enforce environmental laws, at least at CalEPA, which is carrying out an enforcement initiative. Enforcement is hampered, though, by the tight budgets that began during the later years of the Davis Administration and have continued during Schwarzenegger's tenure.

Environmental justice. Administratively, the governor continued the strong program established by the Davis administration, although concerns have grown that it is losing momentum.

Air quality/global warming. Gov. Schwarzenegger promised during his campaign to reduce air pollution by 50%, but has presented no plan to reach that goal. His appointments to the Air Resources Board have been mixed, with a major misstep in naming an industry lobbyist as chair. He signed the air-quality bills that reached his desk, with one notable exception (AB 2042, Lowenthal, 2004), and supported budget augmentations to fund programs to reduce diesel emissions from school buses and other heavy-duty vehicles. He strongly supports implementation of California's landmark greenhouse-gas-emission legislation for motor vehicles, and has begun a process to reduce climate-changing emissions in general. Thankfully, the almost laughable stunt of converting one of his gas-guzzling Hummers to hydrogen fuel has not distracted him from the more serious business of helping to clean California's air.

Ethics and openness in government. After promising to reject special-interest funding, Gov. Schwarzenegger has broken all records for accepting campaign contributions, with a huge amount of this coming from polluters and developers who try to weaken public-health and environmental safeguards. It has also been reported that administration staffers have taken large numbers of gifts from industry lobbies.

Government Reorganization. The governor's California Performance Review (CPR) did its work in almost total secrecy and relied heavily on input from business and industry, almost totally ignoring input from environmental groups. Ignoring much criticism of CPR, the governor plowed ahead with the Governor's Reorganization Plan One (based mainly on CPR recommendations), which was roundly criticized from many quarters. He quietly dropped GRP 1. His reorganization plans for the energy sector of government met the same fate: after the Little Hoover Commission, the legislature, and public-interest groups rejected it, he abandoned it.

Special election. The governor refused to cancel the unnecessary special election, and so Sierra Club California opposed Propositions 75 and 76 for much the same reasons that we opposed his reorganization plans. These are all attempts to concentrate power in the executive branch of government, reducing the ability of citizens and public-interest groups to participate in the decision-making process while giving large campaign donors more influence.

The above is the summary section of the report. For the full report, go to www.sierraclubcalifornia.org/ and click on "PROGRESS REPORT ON GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER'S FIRST TWO YEARS IN OFFICE - FULL REPORT (PDF)"