Mary D. Nichols
Chair, California Air Resources Board

Mary D. Nichols is Chair of the California Air Resources Board, a post she has held since 2007. She also served as Chair of the Air Resources Board from 1979-1983.

Nichols has devoted her entire career in public and nonprofit service to advocating for the environment and public health. In addition to her work at the Air Board, she has served as Assistant Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Air and Radiation program under President Clinton, Secretary for California's Resources Agency from 1999 to 2003 and Director of the Institute of the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Her priorities as Chair include moving ahead on the state's landmark climate change program (AB 32), steering the Board through numerous efforts to curb diesel pollution at ports and continuing to pass regulations aimed at providing cleaner air for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley. She values innovation, partnerships and common-sense approaches to addressing the state's air issues.

The Board is supported by a professional staff of scientists, engineers, economists, lawyers and policy experts, with an annual operating budget of more than $860 million.

Tweets by @MaryNicholsCA

Major speeches and commentary

• Harvey Mudd College Commencement Address, Claremont, May 17, 2015
• Statement on EPA's Proposed Clean Power Plan, United States Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, March 11, 2015
• Abengoa Mojave Solar Plant Inauguration Remarks, San Bernadino County, January 23, 2015
• California State of Change: Cutting Edges Panel, Public Policy Insitute of California, Sacramento, December 3, 2014
• Fireside Chat with Tom Steyer, Advanced Energy Economy Pathway to 2050 Conference, Sacramento, August 6, 2014
• AB 32 Implementation, Informational Hearing of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality, Sacramento, March 12, 2014
• Climate Change and California's Future, Public Policy Institute of California Sutton Family Speaker Series, San Francisco, December 3, 2013
• Address at launch of Shenzhen ETS and National Carbon Trading Forum June 18, 2013. Chinese translation
• UC Davis: Climate-Smart Agriculture: Global Science Conference, March 20, 2013. Opening remarks (14:39-23:10)
• Stanford Graduate School of Business, March, 2013
• Northern California Power Agency, January 23, 2013
• Chair Nichols addresses clean cars convention, ACT Expo, Long Beach, May 16, 2012 
• California Launches Cap-and-Trade to Fight Global Warming, PointCarbon's annual survey of the global carbon market, March 2012
• Update on Cap-and-Trade Program, California Senate Select Committee on Environment, Economy & Climate Change, March 27, 2012
• The Future of Energy, Harvard Law School, February 27, 2012
• AB 32: Fuels of the Future, Informational Hearing of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Housing , October 23, 2011
• AB 32: Delivering on the Promise, California Independent System Operator Stakeholders Symposium, Sacramento, September 7, 2011
• Sustainable Communities for a Sustainable State, Vermont Journal of Environmental Law, Spring 2011
• Policymaking is a Patchwork Quilt, California Air Pollution Control Officers Association, Climate Change Forum, San Francisco, August 30, 2010
• AB 32 Powering the Future, Chautauqua Institution, New York, August 19, 2010 (Media Coverage)
• Welcome to the Bank of California Carbon, California Forests magazine, Summer 2010
• Climate Change: Restraining the Present to Liberate the Future, Environmental Law and Policy Annual Review, Washington, D.C., April 16, 2010

Interviews and Profiles

• California Regulator Mary Nichols May Transform the Auto Industry, Bloomberg Businesss, August 2, 2015
• CARB chief Nichols talks power plan changes, 'just say no' compliance option, E&ETV, March 12, 2015
• Mary Nichols, California's Environmental "Rock Star" on Valley Edition, KVPR, January 20, 2015
• CARB Chair Nichols discusses climate, air policies, Bloomberg BNA, December 30, 2014
• Mary Nichols influence as top air quality regulator, Los Angeles Times, December 28, 2014
• The 2013 TIME 100, TIME Magazine, April 18, 2013
• Personality of the Year, Environmental Finance magazine, July 18, 2012
• The Queen of the Green, Dan Rather Reports, HDnet, April 10, 2012
• New Directions in Environmental Law, Yale Law School, February 24, 2012
• California's Clean Car Rules Help Remake U.S. Auto Industry, Yale Environment 360, February 8, 2012
• The Quite Ones: 12 Leaders Who Get Things Done, Rolling Stone Magazine, January 5, 2012
• Advancing Low-Carbon Policies, Climate Group, June 14, 2011
• America's Top Climate Cop, Nature Magazine, May 19, 2011

Board statements

• Why we need an auction in the cap-and-trade program, Opening Remarks on AB 32 Update, September 20, 2012
• We Can't Afford to Wait, Opening remarks on proposed Advanced Clean Car regulations, January 26, 2012
• The Capstone of AB 32, Opening comments on proposed cap-and-trade regulation, October 20, 2011

This page last reviewed May 21, 2015