Columnist Jon Ralston: Abraham’s choice leaves nation spinning

Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2001 | 10:19 a.m.

Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or through e-mail at ralston@vegas.com.

And now the spin begins. After weeks of anticipation by Nevada Democrats and Republicans, Gov. George W. Bush's decision to ensure defeated Sen. Spencer Abraham has a job by parachuting him into his Cabinet as energy secretary is reason for ... well, for the usual pabulum.

First things first. And this is the paramount point: Let's not forget that Abraham's attitude on storing nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain (yes, folks, he loves the idea, just as most members of the Gang of 535 do) is much less important than what his boss thinks. And while Bush's people told Gov. Kenny Guinn's people during the campaign that the Texas governor would surely, most probably veto interim storage and make sure everything out there in the desert is safe, no Republican could say with a straight face that the president-elect is Nevada-friendly on this issue. (Well, maybe Jim Gibbons could. More on that in a moment.)

Just because Bush didn't appoint his pal and fund-raiser, Tom Kuhn, as DOE secretary doesn't mean the president-elect won't listen to the man who runs the Edison Electric Institute, which is positively glowing about the idea of Yucca Mountain becoming the dumpsite.

Yes, it might have been helpful to Nevada if Bush picked the president of the Sierra Club, or Richard Bryan, or maybe someone in upper management at this newspaper. But just about anyone else could have been expected to be in sync with Bush's ideas on nuclear waste, which my guess resemble Kuhn's ideas more than they do Guinn's.

The politics of this are simple. The Democratic members of the delegation -- Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Shelley Berkley -- surely were fretting that Bush might pick a Democrat for the energy slot, thus giving him political cover when he showed his true Yucca Mountain colors. So if they cared only about the politics of all of this -- which, I know, is a heretical thought -- they should be celebrating Abraham's nomination.

Reid actually put out the most rhetoric-free news release in the hours following Abraham's announcement Tuesday, pointing out that the senator, who repeatedly has cast votes inimical to Nevada's dump interests, shows where Bush really stands:

"The nomination of Abraham to head the Energy Department also calls in to question President-elect George W. Bush's commitment to a fair and unbiased evaluation of the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

"Spencer Abraham is not someone who has been neutral on the issue of dumping nuclear waste in Nevada, and this bias raises genuine concern about the prospects of a fair decision being made on the site's safety."

Actually, those so-called genuine concerns have been there since 1987. But generally the minority whip is dead-on.

On the other side, Gibbons appeared not quite fully recovered from whatever he was imbibing on New Year's Eve. Here's a snippet of Gibbons' release, which would register about a .25 on the political Breathalyzer:

"President-elect Bush clearly understands Nevada's concerns on the issue of nuclear waste. It is my hope that Senator Abraham is aware of the commitment the Bush-Cheney ticket made to Governor Guinn during the campaign regarding this critical issue."

And that commitment was? Oh yes, not to sign anything unless the site is deemed -- now what is that shibboleth? -- oh, yes, scientifically suitable. Now that was reassuring.

Which brings me back to the main issue here, which is not Abraham. It's Bush. We have not yet heard from his lips that he would veto interim storage or that he would not support the permanent repository. In fact, we've heard nothing from Bush on the subject -- his only comments were in statements written for him by Nevada Republicans desperate for something, anything during the campaign last year. Perhaps he could ask his dad for some help -- "Read my lips. No new dump bills." Don't hold your breath.

That's the politics, folks. But what about the reality, which rarely comes into play in discussions on this incendiary topic. The reality, which all the delegation members try to ignore, is that this thing is moving forward, now at a presumably accelerated pace, with the Bush-Abraham axis in place. Spin that one.