The California Air Resources Board has named James Goldstene, 44, executive officer, replacing Catherine Witherspoon who quit during summer after Gov. Schwarzenegger openly criticized the ARB over the San Joaquin Valley's ozone cleanup plan.

Goldstene, a part-time faculty member with California State University, Sacramento, has spent many years working in the state's bureaucracy, including the ARB. The board is widely recognized as the nation's leading state air pollution control agency, with an annual budget of over $750 million and more than 1,200 employees.

Witherspoon's resignation followed Schwarzenegger's firing of board Chairman Robert Sawyer. The governor was upset that the board approved a Valley ozone plan with a cleanup deadline of 2024, which was 11 years beyond the original deadline.

Both Witherspoon and Sawyer said the Valley's plan was not the center of the controversy. They said the governor's staff was actually displeased about the board's aggressive work on the new global warming law.

Since then, Mary Nichols, a highly experienced bureaucrat and respected environmental lawyer, has been named chair of the board.

Goldstene's experience with the board include his work as a specialist coordinating the board's involvement in California's Smog Check program. He also served as senior advisor to the board's Office of Climate Change, responsible for providing policy guidance and direction for the implementation of AB 32, the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006.