Sacramento Stench

On Dec. 12, the state Air Resources Board approved sweeping new rules governing diesel emissions, winning applause from environmentalists around the nation who said that once again California was blazing a path for the world.

Within days, however, a Union-Tribune editorial writer had confirmed allegations that Hien T. Tran – the lead scientist and coordinator of the study used to justify the stringent new diesel regulations – had falsely claimed to have a Ph.D. in statistics from the University of California Davis.