Air board chairwoman has stock in 13 energy companies

Mary Nichols, the new chairwoman of California's Air Resources Board owns stock in 13 energy-related
companies that could be affected by regulations the board adopts to implement the state's landmark law to curb greenhouse gases, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday.

Nichols' holdings include shares in Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP PLC, a Bermuda shipping company that transports crude oil and the world's largest coal company, Peabody Energy Corp.

Five of the investments, including the Chevron stock, are worth as much as $1 million, according to a financial disclosure report Nichols filed recently with the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Nichols, appointed to the board on July 3 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, said she realizes the stock creates the possibility of a conflict of interest and plans to put her investments into a blind trust before the board's next meeting, on Sept. 27, rather than sell off the stock.

"This is family money, and it's a joint decision (between my husband and me), and the decision is to invest it for the best long-term yield for us and our family," Nichols said.

Nichols' husband, John Daum, is an attorney who represents Exxon in the ongoing Exxon Valdez oil-spill case.

Nichols presided over two days of hearings in late July that resulted in regulations to limit emissions from off-road diesel vehicles. She said she didn't think her actions represented a conflict in that case because the regulations affected the vehicle owners, not fuel companies.

A board spokesman, Leo Kay, said the agency's lawyers were looking into the situation.

Bill Magavern, a lobbyist for the Sierra Club, said selling off the energy stock would be the better option.

"I think it's a wise policy for regulators to divest themselves from holdings in companies that they regulate," he said. "It's important to avoid any conflict of interest, and it's important to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest."

Barbara O'Connor, director of Sacramento State University's Institute for the Study of Politics and the Media, said she was surprised that Nichols held the energy stock

"My perception is that she is a living legend in the environmental community, and I would have bet that she would have a greener portfolio," O'Connor said.

Nichols headed the ARB under former Gov. Jerry Brown. She also headed the state Resources Agency and sat on the state Coastal Commission under former Gov. Gray Davis

Source: Fresno Bee
August 18, 2007

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