Supporter of Proposition 26 Admits Oil Companies Are in it for Themselves

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No Surprise, that Chevron's $4 million investment in Prop 26 is for its own protection

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, October 27, 2010 edition of the popular KCRW program, Which Way LA? hosted by Warren Olney, Joel Fox, President of the Small Business Action PAC, admitted that oil companies are supporting Proposition 26 to protect themselves.

Warren Olney:  Joel Fox, quickly we're running short of time, but why would oil companies want to support this if it didn't affect them?

When Fox answers, here's what he says:*

Fox:  The oil, the oil

Olney: Why are they supporting

Fox: Why are they supporting it? They're supporting it because, um, they want the protection of the 2/3 vote - not necessarily for the oil spill, but for anything else.

"Prop 26's backers just got caught in their own lie," said Bill Magavern, Director of Sierra Club California.  "Their measure is extreme and is written to protect oil companies and other polluters."

"Prop 26 goes way beyond the oil companies and conservation; it's also a public health issue," said Bruce Lee Livingston, executive director of the Marin Institute.  "Big Alcohol lined-up early for Prop 26 to stick California taxpayers with annual billion dollar tabs for alcohol-related harm."

Fox's Small Business Action PAC donated about $1.4 million to support Proposition 26.  That money is a fraction of the millions spent by oil and tobacco companies that want to protect themselves and hide their true motives -- shifting the burden of the societal damage they cause onto taxpayers.  Chevron has donated $4 million to the Proposition 26 campaign, and other oil companies have thrown in $1 million.  Other Prop. 26 donors include:  Phillip Morris/Altria donated $2.75 million - most of the money hidden behind the CA Chamber of Commerce - and the American Beverage Association donated $2 million.

"If 26 passes, it is an early Christmas present to the oil industry, the tobacco industry and every other polluting industry," said Warner Chabot, chief executive of the California League of Conservation Voters.  "The cost of regulation will shift from the industry to taxpayers."

Prop. 26 is a seriously flawed measure that according to the independent, non-partisan Legislative Analyst would strip $1 billion from the general fund every year - putting education, public safety, health care, environmental protection, and other essential services at risk.  

Prop 26 will affect every Californian negatively, whether they are conservative or liberal, care about police protection or protecting our air quality and water supply.  That's why a broad, bipartisan group has lined up against Prop. 26, including: the California Police Chiefs Association, California State Sheriffs' Association, California Professional Firefighters, Police Officers Research Association of California,  the League of Women Voters, California Council of Churches/California Church IMPACT, California Tax Reform Association, California League of Conservation Voters, Center for Environmental Health, the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition, the American Lung Association of California, the American Cancer Society, Health Access, the California Nurses Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the California State Association of Counties, the League of California Cities, Marin Institute and many others.

*The entire segment can be heard on KCRW's archives; the particular discussion referenced in this release begins at 18:45.

SOURCE No On Proposition 26; Marin Institute