Everyone agrees that some of the enviro-legislation pushed through by Schwarzenegger’s been pretty impressive. What’s becoming increasingly clear, however, is that once the laudatory press frenzy ’bout the legislation subsides, Schwarzenegger starts dragging his feet.

On Monday, a second state air board official resigned. Catherine Witherspoon left the California Air Resources Board, citing “a pattern of interference by the governor’s top staff in favor of industry lobbyists seeking to weaken or stall air pollution regulations, including the state’s landmark global warming law and proposed regulations on diesel construction equipment and wood products containing formaldehyde.”

Last week, CARB’s chairman, Robert Sawyer was fired — for aggressively pursuing greenhouse gas emission reductions, he says.

Schwarzenegger’s contradictory moves, reports the LA Times, aren’t exactly new: “Schwarzenegger has vetoed bills that would put new taxes on polluters, spur the development of alternative fuels and help clean the air. He has accepted $1 million in campaign cash from the oil industry, and he had threatened to veto the global warming bill unless it was made more business-friendly.”

I guess the lesson here is that after rejoicing that a good piece of legislation’s passed, you can’t consider the work finished. You have to make sure the legislation’s actually gets realized.

I’m curious, first of all, to see who’ll take Catherine and Robert’s spots.

Update: Mary Nichols was named new chairman of CARB — a good and encouraging choice on Schwarzenegger’s part, as long as his admin stops trying to micromanage CARB. Mary’s a California League of Conservation Voters board member, former CARB board member under Gov. Jerry Brown, and one of the state’s first environmental attorneys.

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