Gov announces new CARB Chair; Lauren Sanchez to replace Liane Randolph

Gov. Newsom announced today that he has named Lauren Sanchez as the new Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), replacing Liane Randolph who will retire on September 30.

Sanchez has been Gov. Newsom’s Senior Advisor for Climate since 2021. A Fulbright Scholar with a Master’s Degree from Yale, she was a climate adviser to the Biden administration, and formerly served as deputy secretary for Climate Policy and Intergovernmental Relations at the CalEPA.

Newsom strongly endorsed Sanchez in the announncement, saying, “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.”

Randolph has served as CARB Chair since 2021, when she replaced longtime Chair Mary Nichols. Prior to her work at CARB, Randolph served as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission, Deputy Secretary and General Counsel of the California Natural Resources Agency, and Chair of the California Fair Political Practices Commission.