Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Clinton our last hope

The veto. Nevada's last chance.

The only thing standing between the nuclear power industry's plan to send all of its radioactive garbage to Nevada is a veto promise by President Clinton. When he returns from overseas, I expect that the president will send his good wishes to the bad rubbish that came out of Congress the other day by consigning the legislation to a garbage dump of its own.

Clinton can nix that bill because he knows that Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan have done their homework by collecting enough senatorial votes to sustain his promised veto. Without their efforts, all of our president's good intentions would be overridden in a heartbeat and the deadliest poison known to man would be on its way to our backyard.

The headline in Thursday's Las Vegas Sun said, "Nevada dodges a nuclear bullet." What the newspaper didn't say quite as clearly is that there are plenty more nuclear-tipped bullets heading our way, courtesy of the nuclear waste producers and their colleagues in the Congress. And there is little question that the Republican-led House and Senate are only too willing to start shooting at us within moments of President Clinton's expected veto.

In other words, we may have won this latest skirmish but the battle is far from over and we are still a very big underdog. Why? Because we are fighting a multibillion-dollar nuclear industry which has fueled the Congress with millions of dollars worth of reasons why senators and representatives should stuff that deadly waste down our throats. This is not about doing what is right. It's only about doing what makes economic sense for the nuke power producers, most of whom probably haven't even been here.

We have been fortunate so far. With a one-two punch like Reid and Bryan fighting it out in Washington and an overwhelming oppositon to the dump amongst Nevadans, we have been able to impress upon those who want to be educated on the subject the folly of any kind of thinking that says Nevada is a good place for the dump because it isn't "in my back yard."

Well, guess what? Nevada is in my back yard as well as the back yard of almost 2 million other people who like where we live, how we live and the promise this state offers our children. Many of those children will decide that Nevada is the place they also want to live in and raise their children. In short, our "back yard" is part of our home and we don't want it befouled just because a few powerful U.S. senators have found a gravy train leading right up to the nuclear power plants of one of this country's largest industries.

So, what happens in January when Clinton is out of office? What happens in January when Bryan has retired from the Senate and the voters of this state have sent someone to take his place?

Forget about NCAA betting bans and taxes on gambling. There is no greater threat to the economic well being of this state than a nuclear accident on Interstate 15 or at the Spaghetti Bowl. The gaming industry has been so preoccupied with the politics of money that they have overlooked the biggest threat to their bottom lines that will ever come their way. And so, I am afraid, have the people who live and vote here and, therefore, make the rules.

You may have noticed that all I have talked about is the severe economic impact the nuclear dump will cause in Nevada. That's because money seems to be a common denominator that most people can understand. But what about the real threat? That's the one that will bring all kinds of cancers and other health problems when the inevitable accident happens and the radiation leaks into our water or air. Nevada's mothers and fathers understand that all too well.

So, let's hope and pray that President Clinton will keep the promise that he and Vice President Al Gore have made to Nevadans -- that science will make the decision regarding Yucca Mountain and not the politics of big money that has made the Republicans in the Congress kowtow to their nuke puppet masters.

And when Clinton comes home this week and this bullet is really dodged, let's hope and pray again that we are wise enough to send people to the White House and the Congress next year who will make decisions in our interests and not the interests of the monied few.

Otherwise ... there is no otherwise.

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