-- by Margot Roosevelt, The Los Angeles Times:

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Tuesday rebuked Valero Energy Corp. and Tesoro Corp., which operate refineries in Wilmington, for bankrolling a measure that would effectively scuttle the state's efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

"Go home, Texas oil companies," Villaraigosa urged at a news conference aimed at encouraging voters to oppose Proposition 23, a November ballot initiative to suspend California's 2006 climate change law until the state's unemployment rate drops. "We won't compromise our environmental and health standards so you can make more money," he said.

The sharp tone was an early indication of the battle expected over the measure, which proponents say would save jobs and lower energy costs but that opponents say will choke California's pioneering effort to reduce planet-warming pollutants and attract alternative-energy jobs.

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