Monday’s Washington Post notes a fact that’s been on many a green activist’s mind in the past two months: California lawmakers are set to play key roles in setting the nation’s environmental policies. The two congressional committees with the biggest say in environmental legislation are chaired by Californians (Barbara Boxer in the Senate, Henry Waxman in the House), and President-elect Obama has already tapped Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley to run the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Oh, and don’t forget Steven Chu of U.C.-Berkeley being tapped for Energy secretary.

From the Post: “One longtime Capitol Hill observer cautioned that although these Californians are in key positions to shape federal policy, they don’t necessarily share a single California philosophy. Still, they have been shaped by experience in a state that has led the nation in regulatory policy.”