Editorial: Anxiety lingers on energy pick

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.

President-elect George W. Bush is expected to soon announce a flurry of Cabinet appointments. For Nevadans the post receiving the most scrutiny is that of Department of Energy secretary. The DOE is the agency responsible for the scientific investigation into whether Nevada's Yucca Mountain is suitable for the permanent burial of 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste. So far, at least, some of the people being mentioned for this important post should worry Nevadans.

Even one week before Election Day, one of the names floated for secretary of energy was Tom Kuhn, who runs the Edison Electric Institute, the lobbying arm of the nuclear power lobby. Talk about the fox watching the henhouse. Recently there have been other possibilities suggested, too, including a former U.S. senator who fills Nevadans with dread -- J. Bennett Johnston. For new residents to the state who may be unfamiliar with the former Louisiana senator, Johnston authored legislation in 1987 that widely became known here as the "Screw Nevada" bill. Originally three states were under consideration to be studied for a nuclear waste repository, but Johnston's legislation eliminated Texas and Washington state, leaving just Nevada, hence the bill's notorious moniker.

The fact that Bush is seeking to hire individuals other than Republicans for his administration doesn't bode well for Nevadans, either, since Johnston is a Democrat. Bush's Cabinet selections also are being watched more closely because of the incoming president's philosophy of giving his appointees wide latitude in forming policy, an especially troubling prospect if Bush selects an individual with nuclear power proclivities. In contrast, Bush's predecessor, Bill Clinton, was deeply involved in setting policy. It was Clinton's opposition to legislation sponsored by the nuclear power lobby that stopped deadly nuclear waste from being shipped to Nevada years ago.

Nevada was one of a handful of tossup states in this year's presidential election, so in his successful bid to secure this state's four electoral votes -- which had gone to Clinton in the two previous presidential elections -- Bush said he would be just as fair as the Clinton administration on nuclear-waste storage. Now it's up to Bush to deliver on the fairness pledge he made to this state's residents, appointing a secretary of energy who isn't someone who will carry water for the nuclear power lobby, but who genuinely will give Nevadans a fair shake on Yucca Mountain.