Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: It’s Reid in a nuke-slide

Sunday, Oct. 25, 1998 | 9:32 a.m.

It is hard to see the waste through all the mud.

But, if you think the U.S. Senate contest between Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. John Ensign has created a feeling of ugliness and despair toward the election process, take a step away from the filth of contemporary American politics and look at what could happen if we fail to act in our own best interests. By that, I mean, vote for the man who is best able to save us and our families from uncertain and unhealthy lifetimes.

This is not a scare column. There are plenty of those throughout the media in Southern Nevada this close to election day. This is an effort to bring to our readers' attention a matter that demands clear thinking and an understanding of what is really at stake in this year's Senate race.

The Sun makes its recommendation for this race today. For all the reasons stated and many more that space would not allow, we support Sen. Harry Reid for re-election. We have supported Reid in the past when he ran for this job and we have supported Ensign for the job he has given up in the House of Representatives.

This time, though, Ensign has left the House and is trying to move up. I believe there is just too much hanging in the balance to turn away from Reid, Nevada's senior senator.

By now, the voters should have been able to learn a great deal about both Reid and Ensign. Unfortunately, the mudslinging has discolored this race to the point where even the most persevering of voters might have trouble discerning the facts and issues from the innuendoes and half-truths that have been filling the airwaves and mailboxes of this state.

Clearly, there are significant philosophical differences between the two candidates. I will not, however, deal with those issues. Instead, I would like to focus the voters' attention on an issue on which both men agree and a matter which is vital -- perhaps more than any other to come before the U.S. Senate in years -- to the health, safety and sanity of Nevada's families.

The Sun has been at the forefront of the battle against the federal government's efforts to dump the nation's nuclear waste nightmare in our back yard. I say this not to look for thanks but, rather, to give some perspective about what I am going to say. Long before most politicians and, for certain, the other media in this town were aboard the bandwagon of anti-nuke waste opinion, our newspaper was slugging it out trying to bring this vital issue to the voters' attention. That started back in the 1970s.

Today, opposing nuclear waste being buried at Yucca Mountain is a political no-brainer. Supporting Nevada's opposition is the smart thing to do and being on the other side -- that of the nuclear industry that cares not about Nevada but only its profit potential as the nation's radioactive garbage dump -- is where the no-brain part comes in. The good news, of course, is that Nevada's entire national delegation opposes any effort to bury what the rest of the country doesn't want just a few miles from Las Vegas.

So, the question voters should be asking is this: Which candidate can best protect our state from the oppressive moves of the nuclear industry and its puppets who vote in the U.S. Congress?

Good question. The answer, without doubt, is Reid. Ensign's protestations to the contrary, the facts speak loudly and unequivocally that the Senate seniority of Reid is the single, most valuable weapon Nevada can muster in its uphill battle against every other state in the Union.

Dumping on Nevada has, from time to time, been a Democratic and, then, a Republican priority. In short, it is a bipartisan effort to "screw" Nevada that has been ongoing for the past two decades. That we have been able to keep that radioactive poison out of this state for so long is a tribute to our delegation's efforts, Republicans and Democrats.

But, now the game has become very serious and most dangerous. One wrong move and we could be playing host to the deadliest toxin known to man just a few miles north of the Entertainment Capital of the World. The health of our families, of course, is paramount. But do not gloss over the health of our tourist industry which demands a steady and ever-growing flow of tourists to Las Vegas.

Just think of where those people won't go if there is just one high-level nuclear waste accident between here and Los Angeles or any point east of here! Those multibillion dollar hotels will be worth considerably less, as will the jobs that will disappear almost as fast as our tourists.

The only chance we have left is Reid's seniority in the Senate. Whether you like the idea or not, the Senate runs on the seniority system -- how long a particular senator has served in that body -- and that means a man with Reid's length of service and position in his party has plenty to say and plenty -- dare I say the words -- to trade for the needed votes. How else do you think Reid was able to gather just enough votes this past year to sustain a promised Clinton veto of a bill to dump the problem on Nevadans?

The problem, of course, with the potential of losing our senior senator is that all but two of those needed votes were Democrats. It was the Republicans -- Ensign's friends, Trent Lott and Larry Craig, who have been so beholding to the nuclear power lobby that they have admitted the nuke waste bill is a top priority for them -- who have been pushing this bill.

Simply put, a freshman Republican senator will not get any Democratic support and will, most assuredly, learn the meaning of friendship inside the Beltway. Lott will tell Ensign to be a good boy and then the majority leader will do whatever the powerful nuclear lobby wants. After all, that lobby has shown the GOP the money and now it wants something for it.

If Reid loses, Nevada will see the first of thousands of nuclear waste-laden trucks rolling across our highways and throughout cities before the end of 1999. And there will be no -- not ever -- turning back.

Yes, there are other issues in this race to consider. But there are none so serious and so vital to the health, safety and security of Nevada's families than what happens on the nuke waste vote. And that vote will turn on one issue -- seniority.

Nevada needs Harry Reid. It is as simple as that!