U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports Yucca

Benjamin Grove and Erin Neff

Friday, Nov. 16, 2001 | 9:45 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has announced a large-scale lobbying effort in favor of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste plan, jilting its powerful local Las Vegas chapter.

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the third-largest chamber in the country, is now considering withdrawing membership over the issue.

"We're just really disappointed," said Kami Dempsey, government affairs director for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. "We sent a letter to the U.S. Chamber saying we will potentially withdraw our membership."

The Las Vegas chamber adopted a resolution in January opposing nuclear waste storage in Nevada. Chamber President Pat Shalmy has kept in contact with U.S. Chamber President Thomans Donohue, expressing the local chamber's opposition.

But Shalmy, who is out of town and could not be reached for comment today, wasn't able to sway the national chamber from backing Yucca Mountain. Dempsey said the local chamber got a hint the national chamber might support Yucca in two recent email briefings, but nobody from the national group even contacted Las Vegas to inform the local chamber of its decision.

Now the local chamber will wait to hear back from the national group before deciding whether to withdraw, Dempsey said.

The U.S. chamber's bipartisan national initiative launched here Thursday will be led by two high-profile figures: John Sununu and Geraldine Ferraro.

Sununu is a former governor of New Hampshire and was chief of staff for former President George Bush. Ferraro is a former Democratic congresswoman and was presidential candidate Walter Mondale's vice presidential running mate in the mid-1980s.

The chamber will lead the effort, along with its affiliate, the Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth, a diverse group of more than 1,200 members that "develop, deliver and consume" all sources of energy.

After years of study and billions of dollars invested in the Yucca project, "It is time for an expeditious, swift decision," Sununu said.

Nevada officials said they weren't surprised at the chamber's nuclear waste offensive.

The U.S. chamber apparently never contacted the Las Vegas Chamber, state Agency for Nuclear Projects Director Bob Loux said today. "It goes to the sleazy nature of the (nuclear) business.

"They do business behind closed doors."

Gov. Kenny Guinn's spokesman Greg Bortolin noted that not all Republican governors support the nuclear industry. And Nevada's real strength against such an advertising campaign rests with Nevada's growing political power in Congress, he said.

Sens. Harry Reid, the second highest ranking Democrat, and John Ensign, a Republican, "are a pretty good team," Bortolin said.

At issue is the federal plan to bury the nation's high-level nuclear waste in tunnels under Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Nevada officials oppose the plan. Nuclear energy advocates strongly support it.

The Department of Energy, which manages the project, by law was supposed to begin hauling waste away to Nevada from the nation's 103 nuclear power plants by 1998, but delays have plagued the project. Nuclear power companies, with a strong lobbying force on Capitol Hill, have demanded action.

The announcement Thursday came at a key time in the project's history -- and the coalition will likely begin a mad scramble of lobbying in the next few months.

The DOE this week released a report that asserts the department has enough evidence to make a recommendation about the site. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham is likely to make a recommendation to President Bush about the site early next year.

If Abraham and Bush approve the project, approvals would be needed from Congress and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would license the waste site.

Sununu and Ferraro gave a glimpse of their strategy: tie the nuclear waste issue to larger issues of energy needs at a critical time in the nation.

"If I had been asked to co-chair this initiative prior to Sept. 11, I'm not sure how I would have responded," Ferraro said, "speaking as a mother and a grandmother." "However, Sept. 11 made my decision and the issue before us very clear-cut. We have to realistically look at life in the United States and assess how we can best address both safety and security for the future."

Nuclear power provides electricity for about 20 percent of U.S. homes but the industry is threatened by the waste issue. Plants are "choking" on the waste piling up at their sites, leading congressional Yucca supporter Sen. Frank Murkowski, R-Alaska, has said. The waste issue also threatens proposals to begin building nuclear power plants in America again, industry advocates say.

Nevada lawmakers sharply criticized the Chamber for launching the campaign.

"It is apparent to me that the Chamber has again been bought and paid for by yet another special interest group, this time the nuclear energy industry," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said.

Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said he was disappointed in the Chamber and said Bush should delay a decision about Yucca Mountain, not heed the Chamber's call for quick action.

Gibbons said he was not surprised to see Sununu and Ferraro leading the effort because they are from states with nuclear power plants.

"But what they don't understand is that the Yucca Mountain project has been biased and flawed, even since its inception," Gibbons said. "I think they have only heard one side of the story." Sun reporter

Mary Manning contributed to this article.