On eve of Nevada visit, McCain tries to flip flop on Yucca Mountain
By Joseph K. Cooper - May 27, 2008 - 5:48pmA day before he is scheduled to visit Reno, presidential candidate John McCain is trying to fool Nevada voters and back off of his longtime support of making Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dump.
McCain, who has consistently voted for the Yucca Mountain project while in the Senate, today said in Denver, "I would seek to establish an international repository for spent nuclear fuel that could collect and safely store materials overseas that might otherwise be reprocessed to acquire bomb-grade materials. It is even possible that such an international center could make it unnecessary to open the proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052701367.html]
McCain did not explain how this international repository would work, and it is a disingenuous 180-degree turnaround for the Arizona senator. Not only has McCain voted for the Yucca Mountain dump, but he also admitted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal last May that, if Nevadans are voting for president based on his or her support of Yucca Mountain, then McCain might lose voters in the state.
McCain said, "Well, if that's their defining issue then I certainly understand why they wouldn't." ["Nevada's Litmus Test: Scrutiny increases on Yucca," May 7, 2007, Las Vegas Review-Journal]
He also said in the article, "I think we have to have a place to store the waste. I think that nuclear power has got to be a vital part of our effort to be independent of foreign oil, and I think it's (Yucca Mountain) a suitable place for storage."
An article in last week's Huffington Post also revealed that one of McCain's top media consultants in his current presidential campaign headed up a nationwide push in 2002 to pressure Senators to vote in favor of the nuclear waste dump in Nevada. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/23/mccains-ethical-dilemma-c_n_103216.html]
"John McCain is an unabashed supporter of Yucca Mountain, despite the dire safety concerns associated with the dump. Every time McCain has had an opportunity to make Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dump, he has taken it, with no concerns that Yucca Mountain endangers Nevada's groundwater, or that it would force the unsafe trucking of toxic nuclear waste through communities around the country," said Kirsten Searer, deputy executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party.
"McCain has apparently just realized that his support of Yucca Mountain might cost him a critical swing state, and now he's trying to flip flop," Searer said. "But Nevadans won't let John McCain forget that he has a very clear record of supporting Yucca Mountain."
A day before he is scheduled to visit Reno, presidential candidate John McCain is trying to fool Nevada voters and back off of his longtime support of making Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dump.
McCain, who has consistently voted for the Yucca Mountain project while in the Senate, today said in Denver, "I would seek to establish an international repository for spent nuclear fuel that could collect and safely store materials overseas that might otherwise be reprocessed to acquire bomb-grade materials. It is even possible that such an international center could make it unnecessary to open the proposed spent nuclear fuel storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada." [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/27/AR2008052701367.html]
McCain did not explain how this international repository would work, and it is a disingenuous 180-degree turnaround for the Arizona senator. Not only has McCain voted for the Yucca Mountain dump, but he also admitted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal last May that, if Nevadans are voting for president based on his or her support of Yucca Mountain, then McCain might lose voters in the state.
McCain said, "Well, if that's their defining issue then I certainly understand why they wouldn't." ["Nevada's Litmus Test: Scrutiny increases on Yucca," May 7, 2007, Las Vegas Review-Journal]
He also said in the article, "I think we have to have a place to store the waste. I think that nuclear power has got to be a vital part of our effort to be independent of foreign oil, and I think it's (Yucca Mountain) a suitable place for storage."
An article in last week's Huffington Post also revealed that one of McCain's top media consultants in his current presidential campaign headed up a nationwide push in 2002 to pressure Senators to vote in favor of the nuclear waste dump in Nevada. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/23/mccains-ethical-dilemma-c_n_103216.html]
"John McCain is an unabashed supporter of Yucca Mountain, despite the dire safety concerns associated with the dump. Every time McCain has had an opportunity to make Nevada the nation's nuclear waste dump, he has taken it, with no concerns that Yucca Mountain endangers Nevada's groundwater, or that it would force the unsafe trucking of toxic nuclear waste through communities around the country," said Kirsten Searer, deputy executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party.
"McCain has apparently just realized that his support of Yucca Mountain might cost him a critical swing state, and now he's trying to flip flop," Searer said. "But Nevadans won't let John McCain forget that he has a very clear record of supporting Yucca Mountain."
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