LOS ANGELES -- Actress Julia Roberts has added her name to a growing list of celebrities and politicians supporting a proposal, to be put to voters next month that would tax oil to fund alternative energy research. "We're all victims of this state's tragically poor air quality," she said. "California has the worst air pollution in the nation."

Roberts toured the Mattel Children's Hospital at the University of California at Los Angeles Monday while urging the public to vote for the proposal, known as Proposition 87, in the November 7 elections. She joins actors James Caan and Gina Davis, as well as former President Bill Clinton and former Vice President Al Gore, who are supporting it.

The November elections involve races for Congress and, in 36 states, for governor. Numerous referendums are included on state ballots because it is practical to conduct the votes at the same time.

The California measure would tax companies drilling for oil in the state until it has generated US$4 billion (HK$31.2 billion), money that would be set aside for loans, grants and subsidies to promote alternative fuels and more energy- efficient vehicles.

After her tour, Roberts talked about pollution links to cancer, premature death and asthma. She also quoted Clinton who said that by the age of two months, babies in Los Angeles have breathed enough toxins to reach the Environmental Protection Agency's lifetime limit for cancer risk.

Oil pumped in California accounted for 37 percent of the state's demand in 2005, according to the state Legislative Analyst's Office. Twenty- one percent of the state's oil comes from Alaska, while the rest is imported from abroad. The initiative would tax California oil producers between 1.5 percent and 6 percent depending on the per-barrel price of oil.

Opponents say oil companies that do business in California pay the fifth-highest taxes in the country. They say adding another tax would deter the oil companies from pumping California oil and eventually lead to higher gas prices. Source: Associated Press