YUCCA FACTS

My fellow Nevada Appeal columnist, Guy Farmer, inked a column today disagreeing with my recent take on Yucca Mountain, as well as a recent op-ed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal by former Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Ty Cobb. And Las Vegas Sun publisher Brian Greenspan weighs in against Yucca in a new op-ed this morning, as well.

And this is exactly as it should be - open, fair and honest debate on an important issue to our state. Unfortunately, that’s not how it’s always been in Nevada on this matter. In fact, dissenting voices in the past have often been shouted down or outright censored despite the fact that there is far from consensus on Yucca Mountain in the Silver State, contrary to “reprocessed” claims by taxpayer-funded anti-Yucca lobbyist Bob Loux.

So while Mr. Farmer, Mr. Cobb, Mr. Loux and I may not agree 100% on every aspect of Yucca Mountain, the fact that a renewed, far more open public discussion is now underway is a positive development. Nevadans haven’t been helped by burying debate over Yucca Mountain deeper than the waste itself would be buried at Yucca Mountain.