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Wednesday, May 10, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Bush weighs in on Yucca
Partisans debate the likely GOP nominee's first statement on putting nuclear waste in Nevada.
By Jane Ann Morrison
Review-Journal
In an effort to neutralize nuclear waste as a defining issue in the presidential race in Nevada, Texas Gov. George W. Bush issued a one-paragraph policy statement saying any decision to use Yucca Mountain as a repository must be based on "sound science."
Released by Gov. Kenny Guinn on Tuesday, the statement brought cheers from Bush's fellow Republicans, who called it a courageous stance. Democrats pounced, calling it a "Texas-sized waffle."
Two politicians who both oppose bringing nuclear waste to Nevada had vastly different opinions on Bush's first nuclear waste policy statement, which echoed language previously used by Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Al Gore.
Republican Guinn called Bush's statement "a victory for Nevada" and said it matches the Clinton administration's position. "This is all you can expect out of him at this point," said Guinn, who heads the Bush campaign in Nevada.
Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan called it "a joke" and said Bush "ducked the two most important questions." Would Bush have vetoed, as Clinton promised, placement of an interim storage site in Nevada? And would he, as Clinton did April 25, veto a bill that would have weakened health and safety standards at a nuclear waste repository?
Bush spokesman Scott McClellan couldn't give answers to either question Tuesday, saying that "Yucca Mountain has not been deemed scientifically safe, and as president, he would veto any legislation regarding nuclear waste if it was not deemed scientifically safe."
Bush's entire statement said, "I believe sound science, and not politics, must prevail in the designation of any high-level nuclear waste repository. As president, I would not sign legislation that would send nuclear waste to any proposed site unless it's been deemed scientifically safe. I also believe the federal government must work with the local and state governments that will be affected to address safety and transportation issues."
In some ways, it parallels a written statement by Gore on Jan. 11: "We need to address the very serious issue of high-level nuclear waste disposal based on sound science, not politics, and in a way that provides maximum protection to public health and the environment. Until the scientific analysis of the Yucca Mountain site is completed, it is premature to make a determination about its use as a disposal site. For that reason, I have strongly supported the administration's vigorous and successful fight against legislation that would move waste to the Yucca Mountain site before the scientific evaluation is complete."
While the language might sound similar, Nevada Democrats insisted that Bush was not equaling Gore on the nuclear waste issue.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said, "Where was George W. Bush last week when we were in the trenches begging for Republican votes (to sustain Clinton's veto)? He was nowhere to be found." Reid called the statement "mealy-mouthed" and said, "Whatever respect I have for George Bush is gone."
He said Gore and Bush can't be compared because Gore and Clinton have a record. "They've saved us for seven years. Theirs is a record of accomplishment."
Bush's letter "said nothing and they conveniently waited until the veto fight was over," Reid said, adding "he would have been better off not writing it."
Two Nevadans worked with the Bush campaign to draft the paragraph -- former presidential adviser Sig Rogich and Guinn's former chief of staff Pete Ernaut.
"I think it exceeds everything Gore has said," Rogich said from Paris. "Today, we have a statement from George Bush, in which he says he is not going to allow any use of Nevada for nuclear waste without safe science and a definite transportation plan. That's significant."
Political scientist Ted Jelen examined Bush's statement and Gore's and said, "This is a fairly competent piece. It doesn't say anything, but it says it pretty well."
The chairman of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science department said there is "no way Bush can hope to match Gore's environmental credentials, but Bush is trying to do some containment. If all I had to go on was their statements, I'd say move on to something else, there's no difference between the two."
Meanwhile, the rivals running for the House and Senate from Nevada took contrary positions, which broke on party lines.
In the Senate race, former GOP congressman John Ensign called it "disgraceful" that Democrats were criticizing Bush when he and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., both wrote Clinton thanking him for his veto. He called the Democrats comments "nitpicking."
Ensign said Bryan's interim storage question isn't relevant because "interim storage is off the table, it's dead, and I don't think it will be resurrected."
He said he would try to make sure the health and safety standard issue is cleared up, but said, "I hope that's what Bush was talking about when he was talking about sound science."
Ensign's likely rival, Democrat Ed Bernstein, said "the nuclear industry got what they paid for" with this statement. "Instead of sending a clear, unequivocal statement to Nevadans, he sent a very political answer that will be OK with special interests."
Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley ridiculed Bush's policy paragraph. "It took Thomas Jefferson less time to write the Declaration of Independence than it took George Bush to craft these three sentences, which are totally unsatisfactory." She joined with Bryan and Reid saying the statement didn't answer the critical questions.
Her likely opponent, Republican state Sen. Jon Porter, said the Bush statement showed his clear support of Nevada on this issue. "We can't allow partisan bickering to get in the way of doing the right thing," he said. "We may have won the battle, but the war continues. This is Washington against Nevada. We have to be vigilant and consistent in the message we send."
Gibbons, who has no major party opposition, said, "This is a very strong statement in support of Nevada. It's a statement all Nevadans should be pleased with. I hope the Democrats put partisanship aside and express their congratulations on Bush taking such a strong stand."
The Nuclear Energy Institute, which speaks for the nuclear industry, received the statement just before 5 p.m. Tuesday in Washington but a spokesman there said it was too late for a comment.
Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is the only site under consideration for disposal of 77,000 tons of spent fuel rods being stored at nuclear power plants in 34 states.
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