CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS BALLOT MEASURES : ‘Big Green’ Backers Airing 30-Second Ad

Following up on their unusual 30-minute television commercial, supporters of Proposition 128--a sweeping environmental initiative--unveiled a more conventional advertisement Wednesday that conveys the campaign’s message in a mere 30 seconds.

The new ad for the initiative--dubbed “Big Green” by its supporters--features footage of a 4-year-old boy to highlight the ill effects of pesticides, toxic waste and water pollution on children. It began a one-week, $250,000 statewide run Wednesday night.

Proposition 128 would, among other things, phase out certain pesticides thought to cause cancer, provide money to purchase stands of old-growth redwood trees, require more extensive treatment of sewage before it is dumped in the ocean, and require a reduction in gases that many scientists believe contribute to global warning and the depletion of the ozone layer.

The campaign piece is the latest salvo in what is expected to be the most expensive and controversial battle on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Supporters of the measure have been airing a celebrity-filled, 30-minute commercial on late-night cable television that includes a direct pitch for funds. Campaign officials said that the program has brought in $60,000, enough to pay for itself. Opponents of Proposition 128, meanwhile, are running radio ads attacking the measure as too costly and wide-ranging.

Don Schrack, a spokesman for the No on 128 campaign, disputed some of the new ad’s claims about what the initiative would do. He said other parts of the spot are accurate, but the provisions described would cost too much to implement.

Schrack said the ad’s claim that the measure would phase out “pesticides that cause cancer” is untrue because, he said, no one has ever proved that a human got cancer from pesticides.

He conceded that the measure would “clean up the water” as the ad claims. But to do so, he said, would cost billions of dollars in new sewage treatment plants. And to reduce carbon-dioxide emissions 40% by the year 2010, the state would have to force a 60-cent increase in the cost of a gallon of gasoline and raise electricity rates 20% to drive down usage, Schrack said.

Supporters of the measure said federal studies have shown that certain pesticides can cause cancer, and they said the initiative would only move up the date by which new sewage plants will have to be built. They said the measure would have no effect on the price of gasoline or electricity.