UPI – United Press International

Former President Bill Clinton is the latest national political star endorsing a California ballot proposal to use a new oil tax to reduce oil consumption.

Clinton and Academy Award-winner Geena Davis endorsed Proposal 87 Friday at a rally at UCLA, KABC TV in Los Angeles reports.

Prop. 87 would create a temporary tax on oil production in the state and use the $4 billion raised for alternative energy and energy reduction purposes. Clinton called it a way to make the state less dependent on foreign oil.

That’s the same pitch Al Gore, Clinton’s vice president, used in television commercials promoting Prop. 87 that began airing this week.

Prop. 87 is also endorsed by former Clinton Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., as well as many state and local politicians. Groups such as the state American Lung Association, Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights and Americans for Energy Independence, among others, have also signed onto the proposal.

Opponents of Prop. 87, largely business and oil companies, which have poured millions into the campaign, say it will further increase California gas prices, the highest in the nation, and stunt development in the state’s dwindling oil sector.