Editorial: Nevada’s senators brace for last stand

Thursday, June 6, 2002 | 9:10 a.m.

Despite how dangerous it would be to ship nuclear waste and bury it in Nevada, on Wednesday the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee recommended 13-10 that the full Senate do so anyway. It was a defeat for Nevada, but the final vote in the committee could have been worse when it's compared to the 306-117 vote on the same bill in the House.

One of the reasons for the House's lopsided vote was that GOP Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., for years has made Yucca Mountain a top priority in the Republican agenda. The odds were stacked against Nevada in the House, especially with President Bush's endorsement of Yucca Mountain, but it isn't as bad in the Senate because Harry Reid of Nevada is that body's second-highest ranking Democrat. For instance, of the 10 votes against Yucca Mountain in the Senate committee's Wednesday vote, nine were from Democrats. But Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., has had a steep hill to climb in corralling GOP senators because the Republican leadership in the Senate has fought to open a dump in Nevada.

The situation doesn't look good since so many senators from both parties represent states looking to get rid of their nuclear waste. We can only hope that Nevada's two senators can work a miracle through their powers of persuasion or that the duo can use a parliamentary maneuver to keep the Senate from voting on the Yucca Mountain project, a disaster waiting to happen.