Editorial: Congress ignores public sentiment

Thursday, March 12, 1998 | 12:52 p.m.

Some members of Congress are still hell-bent on bringing a nuclear waste dump to the Nevada Test Site, even though a poll shows Americans oppose it by an overwhelming majority.

Congressional advocates of a temporary, high-level nuclear waste dump in Nevada are using parliamentary maneuvers to speed efforts to pass legislation this year. Nevadans have long opposed high-level nuclear waste being stored here.

What is encouraging are the results of a poll by Decision Research, which conducted the survey for the University of Maryland. Two out of three Americans oppose shipping waste to Nevada before a permanent site is selected. And 82 percent of the 972 people polled wouldn't want to live near a nuclear waste transportation route.

What is disturbing is that only 35 percent of those surveyed knew there was nuclear waste storage legislation pending in Congress. Unfortunately, this is encouraging to Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, and Rep. Thomas Bliley, R-Va.

They will be meeting over the next few weeks to try to agree on a single piece of legislation that could move quickly through both houses of Congress. These nuclear industry puppets aren't looking for an honest and lengthy debate on this issue because they know that if Americans were informed of the danger created by this program the legislation wouldn't go anywhere.

Members of Nevada's congressional delegation will continue to fight this measure and there are parliamentary tactics they will have at their disposal to try to derail this example of politics circumventing science. President Clinton has said he will veto the legislation if it passes. But Nevadans should realize they're in for a tough fight with the nuclear power industry.