(Nevada Gov.) Jim Gibbons (R) seen undermining a nuke-free Yucca

[jpak]

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2007/jul/19/566628070.html

It was not one of Gov. Jim Gibbons' friendlier meetings.

Earlier this month in Gibbons' office, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Bob Loux, the state's Yucca Mountain watchdog, strongly pushed the governor and his key aides to stop the U.S. Energy Department from using the state's water for drilling at the high-level nuclear waste project.

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But Gibbons, reminding those at the meeting that he's a geologist and a lawyer, rejected the concerns.

This week he continued down that path by encouraging and publicly supporting a move by State Engineer Tracy Taylor to allow the Energy Department to continue using the water for a month longer. Although Gibbons has said he was following Taylor's recommendation, sources said it was clear that Gibbons was calling the shots on the water decision.

That move was coupled with the Republican governor's replacement of Michon Mackedon, one of the most experienced and fiercest Yucca Mountain opponents on the Nevada Nuclear Projects Commission, with Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley, a well-known Yucca Mountain advocate. Late Wednesday, after Democrats and the media began pointing out her pro-dump position, the appointment was rescinded.

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