Governor Gavin Newsom has abruptly announced that California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chair Liane Randolph will be retiring from state service effective September 30, 2025, and named Senior Advisor to the Governor for Climate Lauren Sanchez to serve as the next CARB Chair.  Randoph departs the Board after five years of service as Chair.  What can we expect from the new Chair?  This is what the Governor had to say about Sanchez:  “Lauren has been my most trusted climate advisor and the chief architect of California’s bold climate agenda — helping deliver billions in new investments and cementing our state’s role as the global leader in the fight for a clean, healthy, job-creating future.
 
Sanchez has been Senior Advisor for Climate in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom since 2021. She was Senior Advisor for the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate in the Biden-Harris Administration in 2021. Sanchez was Deputy Secretary for Climate Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2019 to 2021. She was International Policy Director at the California Air Resources Board from 2018 to 2019. Sanchez was a Climate Negotiator at the United States Department of State from 2015 to 2017. Sanchez earned a Master of Science degree in Environmental Management from Yale University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Biology from Middlebury College.  Sanchez will begin her term on October 1, but the position does require Senate Confirmation.