Staff Contributors
Guest Contributors

Waste line

McCain on nuclear waste problem

Posted by Kate Sheppard at 4:27 PM on 25 Jun 2008

Muckraker: Grist on Politics

With John McCain in Nevada today promoting, among other things, his love of nuclear power, Sierra Club is circulating this video of McCain talking about nuclear waste.

McCain's a proponent of using Yucca Mountain to dispose of the waste, and a lot of Nevadans don't like that idea very much. In the video, though, he appears to say that despite his support of dumping in a neighboring state, he wouldn't feel comfortable with nuclear waste traveling through his home state of Arizona on the way to Yucca. The highlighted part begins at 1:14:

While McCain's support of nuclear and dumping in Nevada is highly problematic, I'm inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. It's clear that he goes on to say that he thinks it can be made safe, and it appears that he simply didn't understand the question. He seems to do this often -- fail to answer the question posed to him. It seems more like he's not listening than willfully evading the truth. But perhaps that's too generous.

The real story

To me the real story here is not his usual daftness in either misunderstanding or mis-speaking.

To me the big story is his clear and repeated admission that having nuclear waste laying around the country in pools and casks is dangerous.

So some enterprising reporter should ask him: Absent a permanent waste storage facility in Yucca, would you still support building dozens of new nuclear power plants? Would that not exacerbate a problem you yourself admit is dangerous and untenable in the long term?

Kate, call him up!

grist.org

If he believes that, he has been in Washington ...

too long.

... clear and repeated admission that having nuclear waste laying around the country in pools and casks is dangerous.

A stupid mistake on the part of anyone not largely in receipt of oil and gas tax revenue, and therefore not financially interested in the production of wastes that have done real harm; a cynical lie on the part of anyone who is.

--- G.R.L. Cowan, H2 energy fan 'til ~1996
http://www.eagle.ca/~gcowan/Paper_for_11th_CHC.htm

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have an account, log in. If you don't have an account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.
sign in
Search Gristmill
Subscribe
  • subscribe via RSSStay updated with the Gristmill RSS feed.
  • Add to My Yahoo!
  • Subscribe with Bloglines
  • Subscribe in NewsGator Online
  • Subscribe in Netvibes
  • Subscribe in Google
Using Gristmill
  • What is Gristmill?
  • Posting rules
The comments of Gristmill users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?

Gristmill is powered by Scoop.

ADVERTISING POLICY


About Grist | Support Grist | Job Board | Archives | Grist by Email | RSS | Podcast
Gristmill Blog | In the News | Ask Umbra | Muckraker | Victual Reality | 'Tis the Season | The Grist List | The Bottom Line



Grist: Environmental News and Commentary
a beacon in the smog (tm) ©2008. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®.
Webmaster | Sitemap | Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Trademarks