Columnist Jeff German: A vote for Kerry can stop Yucca dump

Friday, Oct. 29, 2004 | 5:30 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

October 30 - 31, 2004

We have the power Tuesday to stop the high-level nuclear waste project at Yucca Mountain.

All we have to do is vote for John Kerry for president.

Kerry is promising to kill the dump, while President Bush is pushing to send 77,000 tons of deadly waste our way.

It is true that we have heard promises like Kerry's before from presidential candidates.

To win our electoral votes in 2000, Bush told us he would recommend Yucca Mountain to Congress only if the science was sound. But when he got to the White House, he broke that promise. He recommended the multibillion-dollar project, even though the science had not proven it safe.

We were betrayed by a man who put the interests of the powerful nuclear industry over our well-being.

Today the best Bush can do is promise that he will abide by any court decisions challenging the project. As weak as that is, it's another promise that can't be believed, as we watch the president's Energy Department working feverishly on its Yucca Mountain license application.

For Kerry supporters like Democratic Sen. Harry Reid, Yucca Mountain has become an issue of character in the presidential race.

"Bush lied to us, and the people know he lied to us," Reid says. "That's probably the reason why he has been through two elections in Nevada and has never responded to a member of the Nevada press."

Kerry, on the other hand, has been to the state seven times during this year's campaign and talked to the media every time.

In August I was among a handful of local journalists who had a chance to sit down with the Massachusets senator and press him on several issues. I didn't see a candidate who was making empty promises about Yucca Mountain, like George Bush did in 2000. I came away impressed with the depth of Kerry's opposition. He clearly had taken the time to educate himself and form an intelligent opinion.

Kerry told us why he's uncomfortable with the concept of a centralized repository for nuclear waste and what he would do as president to stop the dump, starting with holding up the licensing process.

But what impressed me the most was that Kerry said he was ready to stand up to the political pressure he surely would face from the nuclear power industry and its lackeys in the Republican-controlled Congress.

And so for the first time in this 22-year battle with Washington, we have a clear shot at winning.

"It's very simple," says former Gov. Bob Miller, who led the fight against Yucca for 10 of those years. "If you don't want Yucca Mountain, vote for Kerry and it's over. If the president of the United States can't do it, we're in real trouble."

What has been the biggest disappointment in this year's campaign is the lack of backbone displayed by our elected Republican leaders. We finally have the pro-Yucca Mountain forces on the ropes, and the Republicans have been afraid to deliver the knockout punch.

No one knows the dangers of Yucca Mountain better than Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval. Yet, with the state's five electoral votes up for grabs, they have refused to withhold their support of the president until he commits to halting Yucca Mountain. Instead, Guinn and Sandoval have co-chaired Bush's Nevada campaign.

Sen. John Ensign and Reps. Jon Porter and Jim Gibbons also call themselves Yucca Mountain opponents. But, like the governor and attorney general, they have been unwilling to go to the mat for the cause. Instead, they have advanced the party's disingenuous argument that Kerry can't be trusted, when they know in their hearts that the only one who can't be trusted is Bush.

They all have let us down.

In the final analysis, the facts can't be disputed. With John Kerry, we have hope for a safer future. With George Bush, we can look forward to being dumped on -- again.

Our destiny is in our own hands on Tuesday. All we have to do is cast the right vote.