Hal Rothman registers disgust with underhanded tactics by the NEI

Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006 | 7:35 a.m.

The Nuclear Energy Institute is at it again. Nevada should pass a law declaring the NEI a terrorist entity, much as the U.S. government does with Islamic organizations, for its latest attempt to thwart the will of the citizenry with an end run to place hazardous waste in the Silver State without consulting us.

Make no mistake. This insidious bunch is trying to push its camel nose underneath our tent and I guarantee that they hope you are distracted. It is dirty pool, no doubt.

Just before the election, when a nongovernmental lobbying entity like NEI can be assured its generosity to incumbents in both parties will diminish any congressional resistance to its shenanigans, they are floating a bill that would permit the temporary storage of nuclear waste in Nevada.

The Nuclear Energy Institute has to date been ineffectual. Sure it bought a few of our lamest politicians and an occasional newsman in an effort to sway public opinion. These efforts failed, testimony to the good sense of Nevada's people.

A few months ago, I declared that our persistent opposition to Yucca Mountain had finally helped to turn the corner in the battle against that project. At the same time, I cautioned that we would see many attempts to sneak nuclear waste into the state. Some efforts would be above ground; others would be downright deceitful.

This one is despicable. It attempts to buy the state for a paltry $25 million a year, essentially for giving up our sovereignty and integrity. That is roughly $20 for every man, woman and child in Nevada.

Let us briefly review. In fiscal year ending June 2006, Nevada collected a little more than $1 billion in sales tax. The gaming tax netted another $838 million. That is about two thirds of the state's revenue. We are no penny ante operation these days.

Even if we were inclined to pursue such a solution, the offer is insulting. It is warm spit in the face of the state, a fundamental miscalculation that will serve to stiffen our resolve to defeat this beast. They are not only trying to go around us, but they are also trying to do it on the cheap.

So much for the argument that we should negotiate for benefits. It is now clear that negotiations would be fruitless. As anyone in Las Vegas well knows, a lowball offer out of the gate is a signal of a lack of respect. I don't know about you, but I never deal with people who don't respect my point of view.

Until I moved to Nevada some 15 years ago, I had little sympathy for states' rights arguments. I saw states' rights as a backward-looking philosophy, one that carried the baggage of the South in the Civil War and, even worse, was laden with the stench of the opposition to civil rights.

My time in the Silver State has softened my view. The egregious conduct of the federal government in Nevada, first with above-ground nuclear testing, then with the travesty of the Screw Nevada bill in 1987 that authorized Yucca Mountain, and finally with the deceitful and likely illegal running of the project, it has become hard to defend national power against that of the state.

Congress has a pretty firm rule: You don't put anything in somebody else's state without checking with them. It is more than courtesy. That means they don't do the same to you.

I don't recall anyone from the Nuclear Energy Institute ever asking us what we thought about interim storage. I deeply resent their conduct in this case, for it is not only underhanded but also offensive. This is an effort to make Nevada the nation's dump through the back door.

A few years ago, I participated in a conference about nuclear waste. I have the habit of referring to Yucca Mountain as a "dump." One of the other presenters chastised me. He said it was a repository. I countered that it was a dump, a really expensive one, but a dump nonetheless.

The Nuclear Energy Institute could do well to remember my little exchange. No end runs and no back-door entry. A state must have the power to control its destiny, especially in the case of a craven assault by a lobbying group.