Nevada leaders pooh-pooh List’s lobbying for Yucca

Thursday, Aug. 16, 2001 | 11:06 a.m.

Nevada officials said today that former Gov. Bob List's decision to sign up with the nuclear industry will have little effect on the industry's effort to make Yucca Mountain the nation's high-level nuclear waste dump.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., a member of the Nevada congressional delegation, which is united against the dump, said she was disappointed in List.

"This is a fight worth fighting," she said. "Ultimately, Bob List will be marginalized while the rest of us continue to protect and defend the state of Nevada and the good people who live here."

Berkley accused List, a lawyer and political consultant, of "throwing in the towel for financial gain."

"This is a long way from over," she said.

Republican Gov. Kenny Guinn this morning also downplayed the effect of List's joining the nuclear industry.

"In my own mind, I look at it that one person doesn't win this battle for anybody," Guinn told the Sun. "It's not going to hurt the fight.

"If we do our job, and right is on our side, one person is not going to stop us.

"We're 1,000 percent dedicated to making sure (the dump) doesn't come here, and we have by far the best team."

List, a Republican, served one term as governor, from 1979 to 1983. He was defeated for re-election by former Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev.

Guinn said List told him several weeks ago he was considering going to work for the nuclear industry to push for benefits for the state should Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, become a reality.

"I told him I'm not talking about benefits to anybody," Guinn said.

Former Democratic Gov. Bob Miller, an ardent Yucca Mountain opponent, said List's defection to the nuclear industry will be used as a public relations ploy, but ultimately it "won't influence anything."

Bryan, also a strong opponent of the dump, agreed.

"Obviously the proponents and the folks in Washington will see this as perhaps a crack in the monolithic opposition to the dump in Nevada," Bryan said. "But in the long run, I don't think it will change a thing.

"It is a further indication of the desperation of the nuclear industry."

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate's assistant majority leader, could not be reached for comment this morning. Reid has been a longtime, strong opponent of the proposed dump.

Bob Loux, executive director for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, the state's Yucca Mountain watchdog, said some may view List's hookup with the nuclear industry as sending mixed signals in the fight.

"It's not helpful, but in the long run, I don't think it's going to mean a whole lot," he said. "Nevadans aren't divided on this issue."

List said this morning that he signed a long-term contract with the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm. He explained that he anticipated receiving criticism for making public his ties to the nuclear industry.

"I'm not afraid of some controversy," he said. "I think dialogue is healthy.

"I understand what our public officials are saying," he said. "Their job first and foremost is to protect the health, safety and welfare of Nevadans and secondly the environment of the state, and they're doing that.

"My focus is on what I call Plan B, which is really coordinating with the private sector to do some preparation for the potentiality that the project will be located here. Science is increasingly indicating that could happen."

List said he intends to work with business and labor leaders to promote benefits for Yucca Mountain.

"I love this state," he said. "My family is here. The reality is it always makes good sense in any circumstance to be prepared for alternatives. And that's what I'm doing."

Both the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority recently joined the casino industry in passing resolutions voicing their overwhelming opposition to Yucca Mountain.

Polls show nearly 80 percent of Nevadans opposed the dump.