Yucca ads focus on a handful of states

Benjamin Grove

Wednesday, April 17, 2002 | 11 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The lobbying campaign on Yucca Mountain in the Senate has become a game of inches in which a handful of senators could decide the fate of the proposed nuclear waste repository.

That narrow margin has created daily speculation among Yucca watchers and lobbyists for and against the controversial project: Which senators might be on the fence?

It appears Nevada officials may focus on 10 senators in five states where Nevada leaders believe it may be worthwhile to run anti-Yucca television advertisements: Missouri, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Wyoming. An ad, which stresses the risks of shipping waste, began running in Vermont on Tuesday. The other states may be next, a state official said.

The ads are needed because of the 10 senators, only two -- Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and possibly Jean Carnahan, D-Mo. -- seem to be considering a vote against Yucca Mountain, aides and insiders said Tuesday.

Senators are being heavily lobbied by both the nuclear industry, which wants the dump built, and by Nevada lawmakers and lobbyists, who have been trying to keep the dump out of the state for two decades. Congress will decide the issue in the next three months.

Millions will be spent during that time trying to influence a few on-the-fence senators. In part because of the intensity of the issue and the high-pressure lobbying efforts, some senators won't say which way they're leaning.

"The audience for all of these events is just 100 people," said Dan Geary of the Nevada chapter of National Environmental Trust, which helped organize anti-Yucca events nationwide. "Will they buy the view of the nuclear industry -- more accurately, will the nuclear industry be able to buy their view -- or will they stand up for their constituents and protect the tens of millions of people along the transportation routes?"

Yucca supporters are turning up the heat.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which has taken a pro-Yucca stance, on Tuesday urged lawmakers not to be swayed by "the barrage of negative spin by Yucca Mountain's detractors."

"The scare tactics and fear mongering by Yucca Mountain's opponents may have good shock value, but they don't hide the fact that sound science has deemed the site safe and reliable," said Bruce Josten, executive vice president for government affairs.

Industry lobbyists have been on Capitol Hill in high numbers, anti-Yucca activists say.

"We continue to speak with as many members of the House and Senate as we can and will continue to do that into the summer," Nuclear Energy Institute spokesman Mitch Singer said.

NEI has run pro-Yucca advertisements in The Washington Post in recent days and ran an advertisement in Time magazine this week that generally touts the benefits of nuclear power: "Nuclear. The Clean Air Energy."

On Tuesday NEI officials held a press conference with other pro-Yucca groups and Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, a leading Yucca advocate.

Barton, House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee chairman, plans a Yucca hearing Thursday morning, and hopes to move the pending resolution to the full committee by Tuesday.

Barton's strategy is to press for a full House vote by early May to give it momentum going into the Senate, spokeswoman Samantha Jordan said.

Meanwhile, Nevada took to the airwaves Tuesday in Burlington, Vt., with the first 30-second anti-Yucca TV commercial running on the NBC and ABC affiliates. Environmental groups helped the state pay for air time.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has consistently favored a Yucca repository. He still does, spokesman David Carle said.

So does Vermont's independent Sen. James Jeffords, spokesman Erik Smulson said. Asked if there was a chance Jeffords could change his mind, Smulson said, "No. He's solid."

In a statement released Tuesday, Jeffords said Yucca Mountain was the "safest and most viable plan offered to date for disposing of our nation's nuclear waste."

Jeffords said his constituents rely on the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant for one-third of their energy and it has a 29-year-old stockpile of waste.

"The alternative to Yucca Mountain would be to store spent nuclear fuel in 'dry casks' on the banks of the Connecticut River, which I believe poses serious and unacceptable environmental and safety risks," he said.

Jeffords and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., often are close allies. Reid is credited with having quietly coaxed Jeffords to drop his Republican allegiance, which tipped the balance of the Senate to 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and the newly independent Jeffords.

Reid downplays his role, but as part of the deal he offered Jeffords the chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee, a position he coveted.

It's not known how Reid might be using this relationship to influence Jeffords' vote. Reid spokesman Nathan Naylor would not comment, except to say Reid is hopeful the advertisement will have some effect.

Naylor added that state officials would not bother to run commercials in states where the senators already were leaning against Yucca Mountain.

"If you can get there through private discussions, there is no reason to take to the air," Naylor said.

While a number of senators are not yet saying publicly where they will vote on Yucca, some are dropping clear signals.

Smith is a tougher sell, Carrigan said. He has voted in favor of Yucca-related legislation in recent years. Oregon activists plan a few grass-roots campaigns, but they have little money.

"Money for television ads could really make a big difference, really give us a chance," Carrigan said.

Nevada lawmakers and anti-Yucca activists are not giving up on anyone who might have even the slightest doubts about supporting the project. Capitol Hill was a flurry of lobbying activity Tuesday as environmental groups from around the nation flocked to a rally and then the offices of their lawmakers.

Activists held 44 meetings Tuesday, mostly with Senate staffers, said Kevin Kamps of Nuclear Information and Resource Service, who helped organize the event.

Activists plan to make Yucca an issue in their local news and opinion pages, several said. They plan to flood Senate offices with e-mails, and postcards that read: "Do you know where your nuclear waste is? Yucca Mountain is closer than you think. Keep nuclear waste off our roads and rails."

"After today the real focus will be on the ground, in the states," Kamps said. "If they want to hear from constituents, they are going to hear from constituents."

Kamps met Tuesday with the staff of Michigan's Democrat Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow. It's not clear how the two will vote, Kamps said after the meeting.

The senators' aides were intrigued by the argument that waste will continue to pile up in Michigan as nuclear reactors continue to produce it, even if Yucca is constructed and begins accepting waste, he said. Waste must be stored on-site at plants for several years in cooling pools before it can be moved.

"I think we made quite an impression with that," Kamps said. "They don't have a good answer for that."

Few people in Missouri favor Yucca because so much waste from the East would travel the state's roads and rails, said Terri Williams, former mayor of Webster Groves, a town of 23,000 eight miles outside St. Louis. She was encouraged by her meeting Tuesday with Carnahan staffers, she said.

Williams lives "11 houses away" from railroad tracks that would be used to haul waste and has been a vocal anti-Yucca activist for years.

"It's not good for the people of Nevada, and it's certainly not good for the people of Missouri," she said.

"Right now we're the 'Gateway to the West.' With this proposal we'll become the floodgates" to nuclear waste shipments, she said.

The push for more money to pay for anti-Yucca advertising continues: Nevada has raised about $78,000 and Clark County commissioners voted Tuesday to add $1.5 million.

Reid, Ensign and Gov. Kenny Guinn are planning to lead by example and donate personal money, their aides said today.

Staffers would not confirm how much the politicians planned to give or when, although an announcement could come as early as today.

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