Editorial: Nuclear meltdown

Monday, Nov. 5, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

By his actions, Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons is threatening to undercut the state's fight against the Energy Department's dangerous plan to make Nevada a nuclear waste dump.

For two decades the state's top political leadership has been unified in opposition to the department's proposal to send tens of thousands of tons of highly radioactive waste across country to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Gibbons has professed to be a strong opponent of the plan, but his actions, as witnessed last week, concern us.

On Wednesday Gibbons skipped a U.S. Senate committee hearing on Yucca Mountain, despite having begged to get on the witness list. His spokeswoman said Gibbons couldn't "accommodate" both the hearing and meetings in Nevada, thinking it "prudent" to stay in the state.

On Thursday, as Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston reported last week in his daily e-mail Flash newsletter, Gibbons apparently found it "prudent" to be in Las Vegas to attend a meeting co-hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

The U.S. Chamber is one of the biggest cheerleaders for Yucca Mountain in Washington. It has pledged to lobby for the Energy Department's irresponsible push to build the site and says it will "oppose efforts to undercut the repository licensing process."

In other words, the U.S. Chamber opposes Nevada and all the state's efforts over the past two decades - from lawsuits to the work of the state's leaders - to derail the Energy Department's ill-conceived proposal that has failed to pass scientific muster.

Gibbons' choice of the chamber over a chance to stand strong for Nevada is, sadly, not surprising. Earlier this year he appointed a dump supporter to the state commission that has led the fight against Yucca Mountain, only to watch her withdraw in the ensuing public outcry.

Because Gibbons likes to pose as a populist, he should realize that the overwhelming majority of Nevadans oppose a Yucca waste dump and schmoozing with dump advocates betrays their trust. That is unacceptable.