Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, seeking to end the controversy over his administration's interaction with the California Air Resources Board, today named a new leader of the agency... the same person who led the agency under former Governor Jerry Brown.

At a news conference this afternoon, the governor announced that he has appointed Mary Nichols to be the chairperson of the ARB, replacing Robert Sawyer, whom Schwarzenegger fired last week.

Nichols has a long tenure in and out of state and federal government, last serving as secretary for Resources under former Governor Gray Davis. Environmental groups quickly praised the selection of Nichols.

And it seems likely that she will quell some of the enviro groups' anger that surfaced this week about the alleged relationship between the governor's inner circle and ARB officials. In particular, the last few days have brought to light allegations that the governor's top advisers have attempted to micromanage, and slow down, the ARB as it makes its initial decisions on reducing greenhouse gases under AB 32.

Schwarzenegger rejected those allegations in today's news conference. "I think my staff is doing an extraordinary job," he said. "The key thing is results, not to get tied up in all the Mickey Mouse stuff." [His full answer is here.]

Nichols all but declared the issue as settled. "I think I've come to a very comfortable understanding that the Air Resources Board can do its job," she said, "and do it in the historic way that it has, which is with independence and good judgment."

And with that, the governor's team hopes to put an end to that storyline. But whether that works with legislative Democrats remains to be seen.

In a letter to Schwarzenegger, Senate President pro Tem Don Perata said the Senate Rules Committee will hold a preliminary hearing on the appointment next Thursday. And while Perata praises Mary Nichols' record, he said that senators want to know what she would do if ever given a directive from the governor's office that conflicts with AB 32.

"As you know," he writes to the governor, "you and I have not always agreed on the implementation of the state's greenhouse gas law."

And in the Assembly, plans are moving forward for Friday's committee hearing to determine what happened with the firing of Sawyer and the resignation of ARB executive officer Catherine Witherspoon. Democrats say they want the governor's chief of staff, Susan Kennedy, and cabinet secretary, Dan Dunmoyer, to testify about what happened.

Schwarzenegger, however, artfully dodged questions from reporters about whether he'd allow the top staffers to attend. [Listen here] "My friend, [Assembly Speaker Fabian] Nunez is always very welcome to come down to our [smoking] tent, and ask any questions that he has," said the governor.