Nuclear dump lobby takes aim at Nevada

Shelley Berkley

Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Washington — The director of the Nevada office charged with fighting the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump has gotten himself into hot water. Bob Loux is facing serious punishment — or even dismissal — after admitting to lawmakers he gave unauthorized raises to himself and his staff.

There is no question that what happened under his watch deserves a swift response and that he must be held accountable for his actions.

As a state personnel matter, his fate now properly rests with the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, an independent agency that has long been the state’s watchdog over the Yucca Mountain project.

But treachery is already afoot. In the days since the Loux story became public, pro-dump lobbyists in Nevada and Washington have been working to use Loux’s troubles as a tool to undermine Nevada’s long-standing opposition to Yucca Mountain. Efforts are already under way to seize on these events in hope of destroying the commission, which remains one of our first lines of defense against the dump.

The longtime chairman of the commission is none other than former U.S. Sen. and Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan. No one has been more rock-ribbed in fighting the dump. He knows the issue inside and out and is energized by a powerful passion to stop Yucca Mountain to protect generations of Nevadans who would be at risk from this dangerous scheme.

Dismantling the commission he heads, or radically altering its powers, will only further invigorate the pro-dump lobbyists and gut Nevada’s ability to continue the battle against our home’s being turned into a graveyard for toxic radioactive remains.

Nevadans must speak up to be sure the commission remains strong, effective and independent. It must retain its authority to recommend a committed and knowledgeable director for the state’s Yucca Mountain watchdog office when Loux’s tenure comes to an end.

The nuclear industry’s intention is to tar and feather not only Loux, but also Nevada’s entire campaign to stop Yucca Mountain. Although Loux’s name has long been atop the pro-dump enemies list, what the nuke lobby wants most is to discredit Nevada’s anti-dump cause.

Emboldened by recent events, nuclear industry lobbyists have revived the old lie that if Nevada would just roll over and accept the dump, the feds would magically send billions of dollars our way.

The truth has always been that no nuclear waste fairy will suddenly appear with a pile of cash for all in the Silver State to share. But make no mistake — there will be thousands of deadly radioactive shipments on our roads and railways and a mountain of toxic nuclear waste if pro-Yucca Mountain forces succeed.

Meanwhile, these pro-Yucca forces are looking for help from two Republican lawmakers who have already proposed getting rid of our Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects, which was established to keep lobbyists and partisanship out of the state’s oversight of the Yucca Mountain Project.

With these nuclear industry lobbyists awakened, on the prowl, and lining up political allies, Nevadans must be alert and carefully follow events in Carson City at this critical time. We must continue to demand that the independent Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects remains in charge of the state’s Yucca Mountain watchdog mission.

I have news for the nuclear industry: Nevada is our home and it will never be for sale as a nuclear dump. That is why I challenge every Nevada elected official to fight industry-backed efforts to defang the office of Nevada’s nuclear watchdog or to water down the role of the appointed commissioners who help guide the fight to protect the health and safety of our families and our communities, and the future of Nevada’s economy.

Shelley Berkley, a Democrat in the U.S. House, represents Nevada’s 1st Congressional District.

Discussion: 4 comments so far…

By nukeguy

9/21/08 at 1:49 p.m.

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Here are just a few things wrong with Shelley's commentary:
-Accountability for the malfeasance displayed by Loux and Bryan is not limited to financial shenanigans. These Jokers are TECHNICALLY dishonest as well. When Loux/Bryan admit that they stifle any suggestion that Yucca be fairly considered on its merits, they show their true colors-and this is why Nevada needs a more reasoned oversight approach.
-It's not Industry Lobbyists that push for Yucca. Its most of Shelley's colleagues in Congress that voted for it and fund it and made it the law of the land. About 49 other States want/need this project to move ahead and it likely will.
-There are huge economic benefits that flow from Yucca to the tune of $1 Billion per year for decades. These benefits would largely flow to our much distressed construction industry and are not dependent on the ups and downs of the gaming industry. Of course, if you stifle free debate on these benefits, you would not know about them, would you Shelley?
-Shelley's worried about transport of waste across the country. Is she so uninformed that she doesn't realize that thousands of these same shipments have been safely conducted by the military for 50 YEARS? Or is she just trying to scare us?

We expect a more mature voice from our representatives who we expect to do their homework and understand the issues before they flap their lips and wag their pens.
By Future2012

9/21/08 at 2:52 p.m.

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Shelley Berkley says, "Nevadans must speak up to be sure the commission remains strong, effective and independent. It must retain its authority to recommend a committed and knowledgeable director for the state's Yucca Mountain watchdog office when Loux's tenure comes to an end."

As a Nevadan I do not want the the commision to continue.

Let the state AG do the job.

Tired of pay a hack lobbyist to buying other hack lobbyists that are:
-incoherent on technical issues
-waste money on lawsuits that to date have not paid off

Accept that many in Nevada do not see this as the evil Harry, Shelley, and Bob Loux do.

It our money too.
By bag

9/21/08 at 8:07 p.m.

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This is just standard Nevada rhetoric. I have yet to see a single indication or comment from the nuclear industry regarding the Loux scandal. Where does the Congresswoman get her information from. This is just another attempt to distract from the reality that Nevada officials accomplish little to protect the interests of the citizens of the State. Can we please stop "government by press release" and start focusing on the many real issues that confront Nevada.
By Ardent

9/23/08 at 10:30 a.m.

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I've long since given up trying to rebut Shelley Berkely with scientific facts, to which our congresswoman is clearly impervious.

What is worth noting in her editorial, however, is her expert use of the language of political patronage and "message discipline."

Most citizens who discuss this issue call what Bob Loux did "embezzlement" or "fraud" or "theft."

Of course, because Bob Loux is one of Berkley's pets, she characterizes his actions as "troubles" and says he has "gotten himself into hot water."

Notice also the passive construction Berkley uses to describe WHAT LOUX DID: she calls it "what happened under his watch," as if he were an official dealing with the misdeeds of others rather than his own.

She does finally concede that Loux, in his actual person, "must be held accountable for his actions," but even this smacks of Washingtonese: the speech of re-direction and ethical neutrality.

Why can't she muster any moral outrage or even pique when discussing Loux's malfeasance? Heck, she doesn't even use the legalistic term "malfeasance," let alone "embezzlement," "fraud," or "criminal behavior."

Berkley is so committed to her pet demagogue, who has done her bidding and the bidding of like-minded others for years now, that she can't even call a spade a spade. Instead, it is an "outdoor yardwork implement that appears to be functioning at a non-optimal level of efficacy."

I, for one, am sick and tired of this political chicanery. Bob Loux wrongfully awarded himself and his minions unauthorized raises. It is an abuse most people would characterize as "embezzlement," and that virtually all citizens regard as criminal in nature if not in the strict context of criminal law. It is the selfsame phenomenon we normal folk complain about when we see a corporate CEO leave a company and its employees and stockholders in ruin as he/she walks off into the sunset with a fat portfolio built on insider trading.

Fortunately, we've seen some of these grasping, amoral clowns led away in handcuffs. Perhaps we'll get lucky and see Loux similarly promenaded before the cameras in a classic "perp walk."

No doubt Berkley will still talk of Loux's "troubles" and the "hot water" he finds himself in as he embarks upon "a brief hiatus" to "tend to personal matters."