Casinos Launch Anti-Nuclear Waste Campaign

19 February 2002

LAS VEGAS --The casino industry is weighing in with money and political muscle in the state's fight against President Bush's decision to send the nation's high-level nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain.

The industry's two political arms, the Nevada Resort Association and the American Gaming Association in Washington, are leading the charge in the stepped-up industry-wide effort.

NRA President Bill Bible said this morning that his organization, which represents the largest casino companies in the state, has set aside $100,000 for an anti-Yucca Mountain fund that is expected to grow with additional contributions from individual members.

Bible said the money will be used in the state's legal and lobbying campaign against Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

"The fight now has moved to Congress and the courts, and it will require a different level of effort," Bible said.

AGA President Frank Fahrenkopf, the industry's chief Washington lobbyist, said his group passed a $500,000 dues increase in December in anticipation of having to intensify lobbying efforts on Capitol Hill against Yucca Mountain.

Fahrenkopf said most of that increase will go toward helping Nevada's congressional delegation persuade Congress to sustain Gov. Kenny Guinn's anticipated veto of the president's decision.

"It's going to be tough," Fahrenkopf said. "The overwhelming number of members of Congress are supportive of Yucca Mountain."

Bible and top casino industry executives were to announce the new campaign at a news conference this morning at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Guinn, who has been the leading the state effort, and Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, who has been in charge of the fight in Washington, both planned to attend the news conference. "This has been in the making for some time," Guinn said. "We're getting down to the wire, and we're going to need more money. Everyone one of (the casino executives) I've talked to has told me they're willing to step up to the plate." Guinn said the industry's contributions will be an "immense help" in the fight. Reid echoed those words. "It's going to be a big help to us," he said. "It's too bad that Bush double-crossed us." Reid called Bush a "liar" Friday for breaking a Yucca Mountain promise to Nevadans during his 2000 campaign for president. Reid charged that Bush went against his pledge to base his nuclear waste decision on sound science. Guinn already has raised $5.4 million, primarily in public monies, to battle Bush and the Energy Department, which oversees Yucca Mountain, in the courts and win over allies along the nuclear waste shipping routes across the country. He said he was hoping the NRA ultimately would contribute $500,000 in private funds to the cause. Stations Casinos recently gave $50,000 to the state fund. Fahrenkopf said it became more urgent for the industry to step up its effort because of the pending timelines in the Yucca Mountain decision-making process. Guinn has 60 days to veto the president's decision, and Congress then has 90 days to override the governor's veto with a simple majority in both houses. Nevada's best chance of sustaining the veto lies in the Senate, where Reid, the majority whip, has persuaded Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota to help him kill any Yucca Mountain measures, Fahrenkopf said. The industry's new campaign, though in the making for months, comes after Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman blasted gaming executives last week for playing a greater role in the Yucca Mountain fight.