Rethinking Yucca?
As part of suggested energy reforms, both John McCain and Barack Obama support the expansion of nuclear power in America. Waste disposal, of course, is an issue, but there is a plan under discussion: Yucca Mountain in Nevada. This should be a simple issue, but you should all know better by now.
Flip
On numerous occasions, John McCain has expressed very clear support for the Yucca Mountain storage facility as the best way to deal with our nuclear waste.
Such statements released by the McCain camp include:
- "I am for Yucca Mountain. I’m for storage facilities. It’s a lot better than sitting outside power plants all over America."
- "[John McCain] supports the Yucca Mountain storage facility and believes opposition to it is harmful to U.S. interests."
- "The political opposition to the Yucca Mountain storage facility is harmful to the U.S. interest and the facility should be completed, opened and utilized."
Flop
Senator McCain seems to have changed his tone, announcing a radical new idea that involves international waste storage.
"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."
Why the sudden change of heart? It should be noted that this statement was made on the same day that a statewide petition drive started in Nevada. The purpose of the petition? To stop the waste storage facility from being moved to Yucca Mountain. Appealing to this movement could potentially boost one's chance of election.
Did McCain offer any proof that a plan such as the "international" storage was feasible with multilateral international support, and the real potential to succeed?
Until then, it will just appear to be ineffective political posturing to get a few shameless votes from the people who might have been fooled by a ridiculous, empty promise.
