Editorial: Platitudes just not enough on a dump

Friday, Feb. 18, 2000 | 9:14 a.m.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., who just returned this week from a campaign swing through South Carolina with GOP presidential hopeful George W. Bush, said Bush told him that science should decide whether high-level nuclear waste should be sent to Yucca Mountain. No one disputes that Gibbons is a staunch opponent of a repository in Nevada -- but Bush's declaration to Gibbons isn't enough.

After all, even those who want to send the waste here claim they believe in science -- not politics -- and then turn right around and unfairly try to dump the waste on us. Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., says Nevadans have a right to expect specifics. Nevadans want to hear where Bush, John McCain and Bill Bradley stand on weakening safety standards for a repository and whether this state should host a so-called "temporary" dump. We already know Vice President Al Gore backs Nevada on these issues. What about the other presidential candidates? We're still waiting for answers.

archive