Come January, two Californian lawmakers will be taking key positions in Senate and House committees. And both of them -- Sen. Barbara Boxer and Rep. Henry Waxman -- are speaking up about and promising change on environmental issues!

Boxer, for one, says her goal as the incoming chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee is to impose the nation's first mandatory limits on industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. The model for this initiative? California's own new law, of course, which imposes a limit on greenhouse gases and seeks to cut emissions by 25%. She even said she will ask Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the two state lawmakers, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Assemblywoman Fran Pavley, who co-wrote the California measure, to testify about why Congress should pass federal legislation modeled on California's law.

Of course, Boxer's enthusiasm is no guarantee that a CO2 cap will pass. The biggest roadblock may be Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the incoming chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, who's previously opposed tough federal limits on vehicle emissions. Still, there's much reason to be optimistic. Boxer seems somewhat of an eco-savior, compared to the previous chair, Sen. James Inhofe, who still calls global warming a hoax.

Waxman, for his part, is speaking out on the EPA's proposal to nix health standards that cut lead from gasoline. Pointing out that lead is a highly toxic element that can cause severe nerve damage, Waxman asked the EPA to "renounce this dangerous proposal immediately."

Waxman's the incoming chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, but he's been a formidable, forward-thinking environmentalist in Congress for his entire tenure there. I'm proud to call him my congressman. I voted for you, Henry!