Friday, September 24, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Berkley reinforces attack

Congresswoman tries to help Gallagher's campaign against incumbent Porter

Tom Gallagher Jon Porter

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., on Thursday inserted herself into the campaign for Congress between Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., and Democratic challenger Tom Gallagher.

Berkley said Porter's votes for a 2003 energy bill that included subsidies for the nuclear power industry have undercut efforts to fight the Yucca Mountain Project.

Berkley extended her criticism to Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. He voted for the bill when it passed the House on April 11, 2003, and again on Nov. 18, 2003.

Porter and Gibbons responded the votes had nothing to do with Yucca Mountain.

"This is the silly season," Gibbons said.

Berkley said tax incentives in the bill would encourage construction of nuclear power plants that would generate larger volumes of radioactive waste, increasing pressure for a repository the Energy Department proposes to build in Nevada.

"I spend a good part of my day in Washington fighting to keep nuclear waste out of Yucca Mountain," Berkley said. "If we had a more united front as a delegation, we could make a statement and send a message that we don't want this stuff."

Porter and Gibbons bowed to Republican leaders in voting for the energy bill, Berkley said.

"This is a time when you separate the men from the boys," Berkley said. Yucca Mountain "dominates what we do here on Capitol Hill."

Berkley's criticism aimed to reinforce an attack that Gallagher has mounted against Porter on the energy bill.

Gallagher planned to start airing a 30-second television commercial today that mentions the Republican's energy votes.

Porter said he voted for the bills because they contained initiatives to boost domestic energy production apart from nuclear. He said they offered an energy strategy that Democrats failed to develop when they controlled Congress.

"This bill not only provided a national plan for energy, it is good for Nevada," Porter said. "It provides incentives for geothermal energy, wind, solar and biomass that is the future for us as far as economic development and energy."

Porter said he disagreed with the argument that more nuclear plants means more nuclear waste for Nevada. "There will be additional ways to take care of nuclear waste," he said.

"There are 41 days left in the campaign, and the energy bill has been around for months," Porter said. "It's really unfortunate (Berkley) is taking orders from leadership to engage in this."

Gibbons said to eliminate nuclear power is unrealistic, but more should be spent on technology to find alternatives to underground disposal of waste.

"The energy bill had absolutely nothing in there on Yucca Mountain, and if it did, I would have voted against it," he said.

The bill remains stalled in the Senate.