Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Don’t quit nuke fight

Friday, April 5, 2002 | 2:55 a.m.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

I just returned from a weeklong sojourn to other climes to learn that everything I thought was going to happen, didn't. And I don't know what to do about it. Do you?

Let's revisit the past couple of weeks. Once it became painfully obvious that the nuclear power producers -- they are the people who want to double and triple the number of nuclear power plants in this country, even if they have to do it over our dead bodies -- had already spent some $30 million "lobbying" the Congress. Sens. Harry Reid and John Ensign asked Gov. Kenny Guinn to call a special legislative session. The purpose was to raise $10 million to counteract the money machines of the energy companies who were determined to help President George W. Bush keep his commitment to the nuke wasters to shove the nation's radioactive garbage down our Yucca Mountain.

One might ask about the president's commitment to Nevadans not to do the political thing to us, but for some reason, very few of our elected leaders want to handle that one.

Anyway, Gov. Guinn announced that he was considering the special session because that's where the money was, and if Nevada was to have a fighting chance, our senators' request for help had to be heeded. As soon as our governor expressed a desire to lead on this issue, Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera decided that the county that would be most directly affected and the one, by the way, with all the money, should also do more to help the cause. He sought $3 million more to help in the fight.

Why? Because that's what the people of this state and this county pay these guys to do. We elect them to represent our best interests and to lead us in a way when oftentimes we can't lead ourselves. We not only expect our elected officials to go to bat for us and our families, we have a right to demand it because last time I looked, this is still a country of, by and for the people.

When I left town last week, both of these men were on their way to answering Reid and Ensign's call for help. After all, if the fight for our lives is going to take place on the floor of the United States Senate, who else should be calling the shots? Some legislator from Pioche or elsewhere who hasn't a clue how the big boys do battle? I don't think so.

I came back the other day, though, to learn that many of our elected officials have shown a remarkable lack of anything resembling strength, leadership and resolve in the face of great odds.

Guinn couldn't even get the members of his own political party to support his plan for a special session. He has been forced to find the money elsewhere, and the outcome of that adventure is still in doubt. The Speaker of the Assembly, Richard Perkins, supported Guinn's call to arms but that was about it. There were Republicans and even some Democrats who were absent without leave or who were otherwise ducking the governor's plea. In short, when the time came to put our money where our mouths were, those we have elected to act on our behalf froze. Shame on them.

At the county, Herrera's leadership efforts were not any more successful. I have never heard more whining and finger-pointing from people as that which came from the Clark County Commission chambers when the time came to discuss the money. You would have thought that the voters had asked for the keys to the treasury rather than just a chance at a life free from the anxiety that will result once those trucks and trains start rolling our way.

This is the time where the word "gutless" comes to mind because I can't think of any other way to describe the complete abdication of responsibility that has happened at the commission. When families have a problem that demands swift, immediate and unequivocal reaction, they do not hesitate. They do not waffle. And they do not throw their hands up in despair and cry, "woe is me." No, they act. If they have to beg, borrow or steal they do what they have to to protect their loved ones.

That is the same thing the people of this state expect from our governor, our legislators, our county and city commissioners and anyone else who has taken an oath to protect and defend us. That is not even close to what we have gotten so far.

Life is getting real dangerous for Nevadans back in Washington, D.C. We no longer have an administration that is concerned about the environment and the quality of life issues that affect each of us. No, this group back there believes only in aiding the lifestyles of the rich and powerful and damned be the rest of us who get in the way. The only way to beat that crowd is to show them they are in for a fight. And that costs money.

When Ensign ran for the Senate, he told Nevadans that as a Republican he would be in a good position to sway other GOPers to Nevada's way of thinking on this issue. Well, he can't do that unless we provide him the wherewithal to make it happen. There is a chance he can get 11-13 Republicans to side with us, maybe more. If that happens, then Reid may be able to get his colleagues on the other side of the aisle to risk a vote in his favor. That's how it works.

So, rather than answer their call for help, we stall, we point fingers, we cry poor and we do everything other than what we should do.

If I were a citizen of this state, which I still am, I would pay attention to every legislator who didn't support Guinn's request for a special session with an unqualified "yes." I would also make sure I knew which county commissioners didn't back Herrera's efforts to put Clark County monies into the fight. And, then I would vote against them.

This isn't a game, anymore, folks. Either we win this fight or we go down swinging. To just sit around and wait for the worst to happen is not only stupid and shortsighted, it is just plain wrong.

When it comes to things nuclear, the United States government has never played it straight with Nevada. And we and our neighbors have paid a heavy price. Shame on all of us if we let them do it to us again.