Editorial: Influence plays big on energy

Monday, March 18, 2002 | 9:01 a.m.

Areport by a public interest group and two Senate votes last week demonstrated the dominance that special interest groups and their huge campaign donations still hold over our nation's energy policy.

Common Cause's study documented how the nuclear power industry gave nearly $30 million to congressional lawmakers in the last decade. It shows the uphill battle Nevada faces as it resists a future where caravans containing deadly nuclear waste roll across the nation to Yucca Mountain. Common Cause's Andy Draheim asked, "How can anyone in Nevada, or anywhere in the nation, be expected to believe that Yucca Mountain is being driven by the public interest, and not the special interest, with so much money changing hands?"

Conservation and alternative fuels had no chance last week in the Senate. On Wednesday legislation to increase fuel efficiency standards in vehicles was defeated 62-38. The proposal, which generated much opposition from auto companies and the United Auto Workers, would have required the average miles-per-gallon to rise from 27 to 36 by 2013. Nevada's Democratic Sen. Harry Reid voted for the bill while Sen. John Ensign, a Republican, voted against it. On Thursday the Senate voted 70-29 against a bill that would have required utilities to generate 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Again, Reid voted for the proposal, Ensign against. Ensign's vote is ironic since a new Nevada law requires that 15 percent of the state's energy come from renewable sources by 2015.

Money's influence in politics has resulted in terrible policies, including the drive to bury nuclear waste in Nevada. And those members of Congress who pass up conservation measures, such as increased fuel efficiency for vehicles, often are the same ones who would needlessly drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, even though to do so would permanently damage the environment there. Meanwhile wind, geothermal, solar, hydrogen and other renewable energy sources aren't being tapped to anywhere near their potential. "Green power" advocates just don't have enough of the right kind of green -- cash -- to make a difference in Washington.