Johnston won’t be named to energy position

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The author of the so-called "Screw Nevada" bill today took his name off President-elect George W. Bush's short list for energy secretary.

The move followed a behind-the-scenes effort by Nevada officials to oppose the appointment of former Sen. Bennett Johnston. Johnston came close to accepting the appointment.

Johnston, a Louisiana Democrat and now an energy and nuclear waste consultant in Washington, said the demands of the post were too much for his wife of 44 years, Mary. She would have supported his taking the job, but reluctantly, Johnston said.

"That's really the story," Johnston, 68, told the Sun today. "It was quite obvious she did not want to do that. It would have been a big strain on her. There is a lot of travel, a lot of international travel. There's long hours and late nights. In the end, it was too much to ask."

Johnston said Vice President-elect Dick Cheney called him Monday.

"I would say it was a job offer, subject to all the vetting," Johnston said.

Johnston asked for a few days to think about it and then spent hours on the telephone talking with colleagues and assembling a potential team.

"Those that I would have brought with me all said yes," Johnston said.

This morning, though, Johnston decided against the job.

Johnston's withdrawal followed a frenzied effort by the Nevada delegation to oppose him. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday that he would fight the Cabinet appointment, which would be subject to a Senate confirmation. Reid called Sen.-elect John Ensign to secure his help with Republicans.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., called the Bush transition team, which on Tuesday afternoon put him in direct contact by telephone with Bush's chief of staff, Andrew Card. "(I) expressed our outrage" to Card, the congressman said.

Gibbons also called on Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn to use his sway. Those Nevada GOP objections may have "put the pressure on," Gibbons said.

"That's another example of how I think Nevada has an effective voice with the administration coming into power," Gibbons said. "Putting Bennett Johnston in there would have been a terrible blow to our effort to fight the nuclear waste issue."

Johnston said the Nevadans had nothing to do with his decision. He said he appreciated Reid's "heads-up" phone call Tuesday morning.

"I understand that Yucca Mountain is the organizing principle of Nevada politics, so I was not at all surprised by their objections," Johnston said. "I think a lot of Harry Reid, and I count him as a friend."

Johnston in a written statement thanked those who recommended him for the post, "especially my dear friends Sens. John Breaux (D-La.) and Pete Domenici (R-N.M.)."

Johnston said his ties to utility companies and the nuclear industry -- his consulting firm represents the Nuclear Energy Institute -- would not have made him a politically difficult appointment for Bush to make.

"Nuclear energy is a very important part of the energy mix, and the next secretary is going to have to make that work," Johnston said. "We have spent billions of dollars on Yucca Mountain, and so I think we either have to make it work or walk away. At this point, it would be pretty difficult for someone to walk away from Yucca Mountain."

Johnston served in the Senate from 1973 through 1996. He guided a bill through Congress in 1987 that designated Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, as the only site under consideration for the nation's first high-level nuclear waste dump. The Energy Department has been studying Yucca ever since and is preparing a report that likely will recommend the site.

Nevada officials adamantly oppose the plan to bury waste in the state.

"I'm glad he has withdrawn his name from consideration," Reid said today. "It would not be a good move."

Environmentalists who had said Johnston would oppose their causes also voiced relief.

"Bennett Johnston is an example of someone who during his time in the Senate put public policy up for sale," said Wenonah Hauter, who follows nuclear waste issue for the Washington watchdog group Public Citizen.

Rep. Shelley Berkely, D-Nev., said the Nevada delegation needs to be "ever vigilant."

"I have some concerns about President-elect Bush's willingness to nominate Bennett Johnston," Berkley said. "Who will President-elect Bush select now that Bennett Johnston has withdrawn his name?"

A spokesman for the Bush transition team said Tuesday that they will not comment on possible cabinet nominations.