Where I Stand: Brian Greenspun: Dollars vs. sense

Friday, Sept. 22, 2000 | 9:22 a.m.

Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

FOLLOW the money.

There has always been, and still remains, one foolproof method of determining who is doing what to whom, regardless of the business, environmental or social setting involved. And that is simply to follow the money. For it is the expenditures of the green stuff and the potential for raking it back in that always paints a road map back to the door of even the most careful schemers, especially when they don't wish to be exposed.

In the case of the Department of Energy's long-term plan to shove the nation's high-level nuclear waste down the throats of Nevada's families, it has never been too difficult to follow the financial trail left by the very powerful nuclear power industry. The bread crumbs of economic finagling have not only been self-exposed, but also never denied by either the DOE or the power companies' minions in Congress.

In short, the overwhelming desire of the DOE, the nuclear power producers and Congress has been to rid themselves of the problem of what to do with the nation's radioactive garbage, and to the extent that they could have their way with us out in Nevada, then, so be it.

Never has that been more clear than in recent months, when the GOP-controlled Congress has done its best to vote for a temporary (everyone above the age of cognition understands that to mean permanent) dump in Nevada until the law allows Nevada to be chosen for that singular "honor." But for the veto by President Clinton, the nuke-laden trucks would already be rolling across our highways and through downtown Las Vegas on their way to their permanently temporary resting places ... for the next 100 centuries!

Not that we needed any more clarity, but Wednesday's Sun reported that the Department of Energy may begin building the permanent repository at Yucca Mountain, not after the president has selected the site, but long before the facts are in and the president even has a chance to choose. What that means is that the next president of the United States could be handed a fait accompli from which even he could not escape, even if the facts warranted a big "no way."

Why?

Because if you follow the few billion dollars that have already been spent trying to prove Yucca Mountain as the only available site in the United States, with the tens of more billions that could be spent before a final decision is ever made, the sheer volume of economic waste that would result from a thumbs-down at the White House makes a good, scientifically-based decision practically and politically impossible.

No one said these guys on the other side are stupid. If they can, by sheer overweighting of the dollars spent, make the decision a foregone conclusion, then the nuclear power companies win and Nevadans lose. Not to mention every city along the way that could fall prey to a nuclear accident that most certainly will happen sometime in the next 10 years, not to mention the next 10,000 years.

So what do we do about that?

I have been trying to find a way to make sure that Nevadans are covered politically as best they can be so that any effort to short-circuit this process in Congress will fail and any action that could help us will succeed. There is only one way I see and that is by making sure Nevada's senior senator, Harry Reid, gets all the help he can.

And to do that, my friends, is to ignore every other reason Nevadans might have to vote for or against a particular candidate for this year's U.S. Senate seat. That's right. I am suggesting that Nevadans stand up to the federal government and its puppet masters in the nuke waste industry and do what is in our best interests. And that is to support the election of the candidate who will best assure us that Harry Reid can do his thing in the Senate.

If miracles happen and the Democrats win control of the Senate, Harry Reid will become the second most powerful senator in the country. Nevada has never had that kind of clout in the most exclusive political club in the world, but with Harry at the helm he could make sure that bad things only happen to bad people, not the good people of Nevada.

The only way, of course, for Harry to get that job is to make sure the Democrats take back the Senate. Politics and other issues aside, the only way that will happen is if Nevadans send a Democrat back to Washington this November.

Whatever reason we may or may not have to support John Ensign or Ed Bernstein, the fact remains that the nuclear waste dump is coming our way -- and sooner than expected. The only way to stop those truck- and train-loads of disaster is to give Harry Reid that next-to-the-top job in the Senate.

That means a Democrat from Nevada, and that means Ed Bernstein. Do the math. It it is our best and, perhaps, our only chance to avoid a radioactive future.

Single issues aren't the best way to run an election, but in this case I believe Nevada should make an exception. If we can't see clearly enough to help ourselves on this one, I don't see how we can expect anyone else to help us.

Follow the money. Follow your instincts. Follow the only course that makes sense for our future.