Sunday, July 11, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SCIENCE VERSUS POLITICS: Yucca ruling seen as bad for Bush

Parties agree decision will affect presidential election in battleground state

John Ensign Republican senator admits Democrats have gained traction on Yucca Mountain Harry Reid Democratic senator says ruling on Yucca science is "a real blow to George Bush" Richard Perkins Democratic Assembly speaker warns "this fight's not over" Shelley Berkley House Democrat has received assurances from vice presidential candidate Dina Titus State Senate minority leader says GOP efforts to couch Yucca as a bipartisan issue will fail

Friday's federal court decision on Yucca Mountain reignited the state's most fiery political issue with both Republicans and Democrats agreeing on one thing: It will affect the presidential election in this key battleground state.

Democrats and Republicans alike cheered the ruling, which said that the radiation standard established by the government for the nuclear waste repository could not meet legal requirements to protect public health and safety.

But that's where the unity ended.

Democrats immediately heralded the ruling as a blow to President Bush. The decision essentially says that, up until now, science had been trumped by politics, they asserted.

Even Republican U.S. Sen. John Ensign admitted Democrats have gained traction with the Yucca Mountain issue since Bush recommended the site and the Republican-controlled Congress in 2002 approved it.

"I think Yucca has hurt the president's campaign," Ensign said. "It's the only reason Nevada is even close."

Republicans in the state were carefully trying to balance their Battle Born pride in the decision with the reality that crowing too much could be perceived as hurting Bush's efforts.

But some said they were hoping Nevada would prevail on a stronger argument, not a technical one.

"This is obviously not the decision we were hoping for," began a joint statement from state GOP Chairwoman Earlene Forsythe and Clark County GOP Chairman Brian Scroggins.

In an interview, Scroggins said the state lost its biggest fight, the legal challenge over states' rights, and thus, "it's a disappointing ruling."

"It is expected that Democrats will continue to make this a partisan issue," the joint statement read.

Democrats pulled no punches.

"I think that this is a real blow to George Bush," U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "George Bush tried to tell the people of Nevada that he would follow good science. Now this decision comes down and says it's just not good science, not good for the environment.

"I think it makes George Bush look like he deceived the state," Reid said.

In 2000, when Bush was a candidate, he issued a statement while campaigning in Northern Nevada. The statement promised that, as president, he would base any decision on the siting of a national repository on "sound science, not politics."

Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the Bush-Cheney campaign, said the ruling by a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit panel supports the steps the administration has taken.

"(The court) affirmed the actions taken by this administration and the Congress to develop the Yucca Mountain site in Nevada as the nation's first long-term geologic repository for nuclear waste," Schmitt said. "The administration decision was based on 20 years and $4 billion in scientific study."

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and running mate John Edwards released a statement saying the court "confirms what John Kerry has been saying all along and what everyone in Nevada knows -- that the Bush administration has turned its back on sound science in its rush to build the Yucca Mountain repository."

During a campaign trip to Nevada in May, Kerry promised that if he is elected, Yucca Mountain will not be a repository.

"We need a new administration because if this comes up again we can't have the same people who hurt us before making the decision," said Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas.

Titus said Republican efforts to couch Yucca Mountain in terms of a bipartisan issue fail. She pointed to the inclusion of a state GOP platform plank that calls for negotiating for benefits for federally-owned public lands, a plank that covers Yucca Mountain, although not by name.

"You can't pretend to be opposed to something and then, with a wink-wink, sneak something into the party platform to negotiate for benefits and also endorse the president," Titus said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., recently told the Review-Journal's editorial board that if the president has trouble in Nevada, it can be blamed on Yucca Mountain.

Republican consultant Sig Rogich, a friend of President Bush's father, has called the platform plank "idiocy."

But Democrats say they don't think the president is in trouble in Nevada solely because of Yucca Mountain.

"The economy in Nevada is better than in the rest of the nation, but we lead the nation in uninsured," Reid said after citing problems with education, veterans issues and health care. "I think that Yucca Mountain makes the race one that should be easier for Kerry to win. I don't think Yucca Mountain makes Nevada a close state, I think it means Nevada will go for Kerry."

Scroggins said the selection of Edwards as Kerry's running mate weakens the Democrats' argument.

Edwards took two votes on Yucca Mountain, one for and one against it, leading some to question how the Kerry campaign would live up to the candidate's May promise to the state.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said she received Edwards' assurance that there is "no sunlight" between his position and Kerry's anymore.

"Contrast John Edwards' position now with Dick Cheney and his secret meetings with nuclear energy leaders and the position that we need to expand nuclear production which will produce more waste," Berkley said. "There's no contest between the two."

Scroggins said he believes that if the president agrees with him on 90 percent of the issues, Bush still represents him well.

"The Kerry-Edwards ticket is too liberal for Nevada," Scroggins said. "The Protection of Marriage Act passed two times with almost 70 percent."

Scroggins was referring to the ballot question that banned gay marriage in the state's constitution.

Berkley said she believes voters will view the Yucca issue as another example of "a blatant lie" from the administration. She pointed to Medicare reform that she said isn't working and the underfunding of the No Child Left Behind Act as two examples.

If the Department of Energy appeals the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, or if Congress is asked to create a different radiation standard, Democrats argue they need a change in the White House to keep Friday's court victory in the state's favor.

"John Kerry and John Edwards are going to be the key factor this coming election to make sure Yucca Mountain doesn't stay in Nevada," said Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, who chairs the Democratic National Committee's Black Caucus.

"This fight's not over," added Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson. "We won, but this doesn't mean the project is dead."

Rep. Jon Porter, a Republican freshman in a competitive re-election campaign against Democrat Tom Gallagher, strayed the furthest among his GOP colleagues in celebrating the court victory.

"We know the Department of Energy bent the rules to find the site suitable," Porter said. "Today, it is clear that sound science and common sense have prevailed over political expediency."

Gallagher said that when he was CEO of Park Place Entertainment, the company donated $100,000 to help finance the state's legal and lobbying campaign against Yucca Mountain.

"I am optimistic this court has landed a serious blow against Yucca," Gallagher said. "I will fight every day to make sure Yucca proponents never recover from that blow."

Review-Journal writer Henry Brean contributed to this report.