Editorial: Rebuff nuke dump by re-electing Reid

Saturday, Oct. 31, 1998 | 10:40 a.m.

A critical moment in that fight occurs this Tuesday in Nevada's U.S. Senate race, which pits Sen. Harry Reid, a Democrat, against Rep. John Ensign, a Republican. Without President Clinton's steadfast vow to veto a temporary dump, and Reid's relentless efforts at persuading enough senators to sustain a veto, Nevada certainly would have had high-level nuclear waste shipped here by now.

In an interview with Sun Editor Brian Greenspun published Friday, President Clinton said nuclear waste will be headed for Nevada in 1999 if Reid isn't re-elected. Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., and many other influential GOP members of Congress have made no secret of their obsession to make Nevada the nuclear waste dumping ground of the nation.

No one is questioning whether Ensign would oppose the dump if he's elected senator. But the facts of life are that Reid's seniority, and his ability to put together a veto-proof coalition with Clinton's help, has stopped high-level nuclear waste from coming to Nevada.

The issue is simple. Elect Reid and give Nevada another fighting chance to stop the dump. Elect Ensign and it's certain that Congress will override the president's veto and send nuclear waste to Nevada, the greatest environmental danger this state has ever known.

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