Columnist Jon Ralston: It was sound political science

Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 | 4:25 a.m.

"I believe sound science and not politics, must prevail in the designation of any high-level nuclear waste repository."

-- George W. Bush in a statement, May 2000

FINALLY, after all this time, we have a definition of the dump shibboleth rotely repeated in Nevada by so many pandering federal politicians.

What George W. Bush meant by "sound science" is that his administration, drenched in nuclear industry money from himself and Vice President Dick Cheney down to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, would make this Einstein-like calculation: Nevada helped us get over the top in 2000, we don't have to worry about the wasteland until '04, so let's get this over with now and see if the bumpkins forget.

So the administration ignored a General Accounting Office report that raised serious questions about the site and the department's readiness to proceed.

Then Abraham came to Yucca Mountain, and looked at it for about as long as Chevy Chase gazed at another large hole in the ground, the Grand Canyon, in "National Lampoon's Vacation." And the energy secretary waited even less than the usual amount of time after a one-night stand than a man does before he calls the woman to thank her for the memories but ...

No card, no flowers -- he almost forgot to call the governor. And you thought Screw Nevada 1987 was bad?

The symmetry here is perfect. That blather Bush offered during his presidential campaign came after state Republicans virtually begged the candidate's chief political confidant, Karl Rove, for something, anything to ensure Al Gore did not have an advantage on the issue. So Rove & Co. coughed up the sound science silliness. Fast forward to over a year and a half later and who informs Gov. Kenny Guinn that Abraham is about to designate Nevada for the dump: None other than political animal Rove, showing just how scientific the decision really was.

When Bush issued that statement two years ago, the state's GOP elite made Bush sound like a figure of Rooseveltian bravery.

Gov. Kenny Guinn: "This statement is an indication of George W. Bush's courage as a leader."

Sen. John Ensign: "I admire his courage."

Rep. Jim Gibbons: "This well-received statement speaks volumes of Gov. Bush's deep commitment to the economy and environment of Nevada."

So were they lying or just taken in by Bush's romancing of them?

One-night stand or one-election cycle stand -- it's all the same. Now these state Republicans express dismay and shock that Bush's energy secretary -- does anyone think Abraham was acting without his boss' (either Bush or Cheney) tacit approval? -- has tipped over the first domino leading to an official selection of Yucca Mountain as the dumpsite.

The administration's political calculation seems obvious here: Get this issue off the table long before '04, so Bush still has a chance to garner Nevada's five electoral votes. Of course that means the president may be jeopardizing Nevada's two contested congressional seats this year -- although Speaker Dennis Hastert's gushing about Abraham's recommendation will do damage anyhow.

Bush and his political crony Rove, as well as Cheney, are awash in energy industry money, from the bankrupt Enron giant to General Electric to the Edison Electric Institute, a key dump proponent whose boss is a presidential intimate. So their performance, while hardly surprising, was ham-handed, not to mention insulting and patronizing to the state's GOP elite who fawned over Bush in May 2000. But that's politics -- or should I say sound science?

The Democrats, of course, overplayed their hand. In contrast to Senate Majority Whip Harry Reid's brilliant, subtle strategy -- Bush may not accept Abraham's recommendation, let's give him a chance -- the state party put a screeching release attacking Guinn for being feckless on the dump.

Why not let others without partisan bias point out the obvious? It was so unnecessary. And let's not forget our history -- Nevada never would have been singled out if it weren't for Democrats in 1987, including then-Senate Energy Chairman J. Bennett Johnston, the first to choose politics over science when he magically erased two other sites from consideration and focused all the attention for the ensuing decade and a half on Nevada.

Sometimes partisan impulses should be held in check. This will play out very nicely for the Democrats if they'd just keep their mouths shut -- but figure the odds.

That's the political reality. The practical reality is that the political endgame has begun -- the next domino to fall will be Bush's ratifying Abraham, Guinn's veto and then Congress will override the governor unless the state can pull a parliamentary rabbit out of its hat.

The only chance now would seem to be in the legal arena, with the GAO report bolstering the case but balanced by the state's inherently weak position in federal court against the federal government.

Some Nevada pols still believe that scientific questions will disqualify the site before it can be licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. But if Abraham's announcement teaches us anything (again), it is not to rely on sound science to stop Yucca Mountain from becoming a nuclear waste repository.