Columnist Jon Ralston: Yucca fight mired in pettiness

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 5:09 a.m.

EVEN AT THE MOST critical time in the state's political fight against Yucca Mountain, it still comes down to playing the blame game.

Instead of quietly trying to assemble votes and craft strategies to block the dump in the U.S. Senate this summer, the battle last week disintegrated into a war of news releases and shameless posturing. Instead of trying to answer the seminal question such as how to count to 51 in the Senate, we heard the tiresome refrains:

Who's responsible -- Democrats or Republicans?

Who's the more egregious promise-breaker -- President Bush or Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle?

Suddenly last week the unity exemplified by Harry Ensign began to fray as Daschle indicated he might not be able to simply stop the measure from coming to the floor -- as he had said last May in Las Vegas when he declared the dump dead so long as the Democrats ruled the Senate. That sparked an outpouring of GOP paper that was a mirror-image of the Democratic rhetoric trying to hold Bush to his campaign promise to withhold judgment until all the science was in before he inevitably broke it.

Nevada Republicans, still reeling from a GOP president's recommendation and the party's capital leadership backing the project, have insisted the issue is nonpartisan -- until now. For instance, congressional hopeful Jon Porter, who just a few weeks ago was lamenting that anyone who would turn Yucca Mountain into a partisan issue, sent out a release decrying "Democrat hypocrisy" and presenting the new GOP bible: "Yucca Mountain 101," which is a screed designed to put more pressure on Daschle because of his power as majority leader.

Even the special session, should one occur (unlikely) to raise money for the dump fight, could degenerate into partisan politics. Gov. Kenny Guinn feels pressure not just from lawmakers who want to do it but from Republicans who see no upside.

I'd say they should all be ashamed of themselves for this behavior. But shame regarding Yucca Mountain was entombed long ago -- and will remain safely buried for a lot longer than 10,000 years.

No one should escape here.

For instance, Reid was standing by Daschle's side last June when Daschle made his statement in Las Vegas. Maybe they didn't know that the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 had expedited procedures that might limit the usually omnipotent powers of the majority leader. But hyperbole always gets you in trouble, especially if you're a politician. And now the Republicans say Daschle has a promise to keep.

Of course there is a huge difference between Daschle and Bush. Bush was never with the state and only pretended to be during his one-election stand in '00. His Nevada dalliance came while he was married to the nuclear industry -- and with all that money, it's easy to be a forgiving spouse.

Daschle, on the other hand, has been with Nevada for a long time. Whether he believes in the issue (doubtful) or is doing a favor for his lieutenant (likely), he has at least tried. Bush rolled over for the industry and his administration continues to thumb its nose at any of the hundreds of remaining scientific questions. For instance, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, in a letter published in the latest edition of National Journal wrote: "Sound science and exhaustive examination have removed any doubts about Yucca's suitability." That's the administration's mindset -- see no science, hear no science, speak no science.

As for Ensign, it's hard to blame him for trying to turn the focus on Daschle. After all, he promised when he campaigned for the Senate that he would bring GOP votes to bear on the dump. It worked well on the NCAA bill, when Ensign and Reid provided a synergy that almost killed that measure in John McCain's Commerce Committee.

But so far on the dump, Ensign is batting .000. He has convinced nobody. The two Republicans with the state -- Ben Nighthorse Campbell and Lincoln Chafee -- were there last time, without Ensign's help. And unless he can get about a dozen more of his colleagues -- and they would have to go against a Republican in the White House -- there's no chance to get to 51, even if Reid/Daschle can get 35-40 Democrats.

Beyond the arcane parliamentary duel going on between Reid and Ensign over how much power Daschle really has, no one really knows until theories are tested in the real Club of 100. As new Nevada lobbyist John Podesta put it succinctly last week: "There will be a motion to proceed to the bill in early summer. Then we're just going to have to see where that takes us."

There's not much time to get the Nevada house back in order. Guinn is expected to produce his resolution of disapproval on April 8, the House will act quickly and the measure will be in the Senate right away. And the clock will then start inexorably ticking toward the end of July, when final action must be taken.

As I said, not much time. And certainly no time to waste protecting political posteriors and pulling pathetic partisan ploys instead of trying to round up votes.