Columnist Jeff German: Differences on Yucca clear, not confusing

Friday, July 30, 2004 | 5:14 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

July 31 - Aug. 1, 2004

Nevada Republicans claim to be confused about where John Kerry stands in the fight against Yucca Mountain.

They took great delight last week in disclosing that the Democratic presidential candidate's voting record in the Senate isn't as solidly against the nuclear waste dump as Democrats have been telling us.

Kerry, it turns out, voted way back in 1987 for the so-called "Screw Nevada" bill that singled out Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas, as the only storage site in the country worth studying.

The vote, though certainly an important one, came early in the Yucca Mountain fight, when Nevada didn't have many allies on Capitol Hill. Since then Kerry and other Democratic senators have seen the flaws in the Yucca Mountain project and have rallied strongly behind Nevada's congressional delegation.

But a vote's a vote, no matter how ancient. Republicans looking to provide cover for President Bush's dismal Yucca Mountain record whipped up the pundits and mounted a media blitz to cloud an issue that could decide who wins Nevada's five electoral votes -- and maybe the entire presidential race.

"I don't see a difference in George Bush or John Kerry as president on the Yucca Mountain issue," Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said with a straight face.

Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., proclaimed: "It's clear where Bush stands on this, but it is not clear where Kerry stands."

Porter was right about one thing. It is definitely clear where Bush stands on Yucca Mountain.

He is against us.

He is the Republican presidential candidate of 2000 who promised to recommend Yucca Mountain to Congress only if it was based on sound science and then turned around as president and recommended Yucca Mountain without sound science.

And he is the president who is moving forward with the project even though a federal appeals court has concluded that the standards the government set for storing the waste can't protect us in the long run.

As for Kerry, I have a news flash for Ensign and Porter. He's on our side.

"Whether it's some of the time or all of the time, Kerry has voted with us," said former Gov. Bob Miller, a warrior in the anti-Yucca Mountain trenches long before Ensign and Porter. "George Bush had one vote, and he voted to screw Nevada."

Kerry has been with us when it has counted most. He voted against Bush's Yucca Mountain recommendation in 2002 and, two years before that, against a bill to temporarily store nuclear waste in our backyard.

During a Nevada campaign swing in May, the Massachusetts senator made a bold pledge to the voters, one that no presidential candidate before him, including the popular Bill Clinton, ever made.

"If I'm president of the United States," Kerry said, "Yucca Mountain will not be a repository."

There is nothing confusing about that statement.

The truth is, Republicans can't defend Bush's position on Yucca Mountain because it is indefensible. This is why the president has yet to sit down with reporters here and discuss his decision to send the deadliest substance known to man our way.

The only thing the Republicans can do is what Ensign and Porter did last week -- pathetically try to muddy up Kerry's position. They can try to make Kerry look as bad as Bush.

No one can say for sure whether Kerry will live up to his pledge. But at least we have hope with Kerry that help is on the way.

We have no hope at all with Bush.

I keep waiting for Nevada Republicans to stop worrying about Bush's future and start worrying about ours.