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Obama tells governors he won't reconsider Yucca shutdown
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STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Nevada Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval on Friday wrapped up three days of meetings with federal leaders, with the most notable episode of the week taking place during an audience with President Barack Obama.
While Obama was taking questions Thursday during a meeting with 23 new governors in the official White House guest house, incoming South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley challenged him on Yucca Mountain.
Haley, whose state is suing to revive the terminated project, asked whether Obama would reconsider his decision to shut down the proposed Nevada nuclear waste site.
"You might want to ask the Nevada governor about that," Obama quipped. At which point Sandoval jumped in. "I think I can answer that question for you, Mr. President," he piped up.
Like other elected Nevadans, Sandoval opposes the Yucca project. Obama turned to Haley and defended his decision before the new governors, saying his administration was looking for alternatives to the Nevada storage site.
"It was a fast exchange," Sandoval said afterward, but one that was welcomed by Nevada's new chief executive.
"It reaffirmed to me the president will not be supporting the long-term storage of nuclear waste in Nevada," Sandoval said. "I have the understanding the administration has not changed its position."
Beyond his comment on Yucca Mountain, Sandoval did not ask Obama questions. But he said it was clear that Nevada's concerns about the cost of Obama's signature health care reform was shared by others in the session that was held at Blair House.
Again, it was Haley who challenged Obama to repeal the health care legislation. He rejected the idea, but reportedly offered the possibility the states could opt out of some requirements under certain conditions.
During three days in Washington, Sandoval met with various Cabinet secretaries, Republican leaders in Congress and members of Nevada's delegation.
The newly elected Republican said the sessions were good first steps to establish relationships with federal leaders. He said Obama promised governors his administration would reciprocate.
"He said we can be very confident they will return our calls," Sandoval said.
In a meeting last month with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., Sandoval asked the Senate majority leader about chances the government could pick up $215 million of Nevada's costs to run Medicaid, the free health care program for the poor.
Nevada has been hit hard by the recession and major cuts are expected in Sandoval's budget, which he will present to the Legislature in 2011. The state will be hit with a 17 percent drop in tax revenues over the next two years, according to this week's projection by the state Economic Forum.
Sandoval also expressed concern to Reid about Nevada owing the government $105 million in interest charges over the next two years on loans that have enabled the state to pay unemployment benefits.
Sandoval said Friday that he did not get into detail on those issues in meetings this week, including one with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. But he said he is scheduling a follow-up with her chief of staff that will get into the numbers.
"They said there may be ways that they can assist Nevada," Sandoval said. "We haven't gotten into the specifics but that was the objective of my trip, to meet with the respective Cabinet secretaries and talk about Nevada issues and to be able to follow up from there."
Sandoval also planned a follow-up meeting Friday with the chief of staff to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood after meeting with the Cabinet member on Thursday. The topic was to be high-speed rail, one of the issues Obama discussed with new governors on Thursday.
Sandoval said he wanted the government's view of competing proposals to serve the Las Vegas-Southern California corridor with magnetic levitation trains or conventional high-speed rail before deciding which plan his administration will support.
"What I want to do .... is sit down and see what there is to offer," Sandoval said. "I want to try to understand what the respective position of the Department of Transportation is in regard to the two projects.
"I think it's important we have high-speed rail in the state of Nevada but I am not going to pick one project over the other," Sandoval said. "It's a fact finding mission .... in seeing exactly where the Department of Transportation is. I did not realize how big a priority it is for the administration, and there are a lot of resources available to the states that will be participating."
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@ Tom Reynolds. Boy, you sure do a lot of assuming. Where on Earth did you get the idea that I hate and fear nuclear energy?
@ Thomas.Atwood: Fine. Whatever. I'll say it again, one last time. I absolutely respect how strongly you hate and fear everything nuclear, and how much you love solar and wind. Of course you are entitled to your opinions. But do not expect others to agree with you and act with you on your beliefs, especially to give you money, without something to back up your beliefs. End of story.
@ Tom Reynolds. Look again. By the way, are you going to present that 3,000 page critical facility siting study on your proposed coal powered generating plant? Or not? No one will invest in your project if you don't.
@ Thomas.Atwood: I don't remember asking where electricity comes from. But a competent engineer would of course ask how you intend to generate solar power at night. Just like they would ask specifically how much electricity you think a given facility can generate, how much it will cost to build and run that facility, and therefore how profitable it is likely to be given the price they can get for that generated electricity. And like it or not, they will need at least "ball park" or preliminary answers to these questions before committing enough funds to even come up with a detailed plan and design. What can I say, Thomas? Maybe you know clients and investors that will blindly give you money just because you're a nice guy, but I've never met them! Maybe the best place to leave this is for me to admit ignorance. You keep telling me you have answered my questions, but for the life of me I sure can't see where.
@ Tom Reynolds. And likewise, you are not stupid for asking critical facility siting study questions on a Las Vegas Review Journal message board, although it is hardly the forum for doing so. I'm also not sure that "where does electricity come from?" or "how does a solar power plant generate electricity at night?" would be on the list of questions that a competent engineer might ask. A troll might ask that, over and over again ad nauseum, even after being provided the answer, but not a competent engineer. Does this mean you are not going to explain in intricate detail the workings, infrastructure and environmental impact of a coal or nuclear powered generation facility? Do you even know?
@ Thomas.Atwood: PS - and you're damn right I want all those i's dotted and t's crossed! ANY time billions of other peoples' money is spent building something on which lots of lives will depend, you'd better believe full accountability is called for! Would you drive over the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge, if you new that the engineers had been "figuring it out as they went along?"
@ Thomas.Atwood: Believe it or not, I'm really not angry. It's simply obvious that you have never participated in a critical facility siting study, or a critical facility design. If you had, you would know that the questions I am asking are perfectly normal, legitimate questions that WILL be asked sooner or later. But you haven't had that experience, and so you have no idea what I'm talking about. And that's okay. Doesn't make you stupid, or me "borderline troll." It just means we have no common basis for communication.
@ Tom Reynolds. Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that you need to add a full concise "plan" for nuclear power as well. (Don't forget to cross those t's)
@ Tom Reynolds. I'll make a deal with you. First, you go ahead and explain in minute detail how electric power generation from fossil fuels is better than solar or wind. Don't forget to cross every 't' and dot every 'i'. And don't even consider providing links to any article on the subject because I won't read it. I want you to explain yourself fully, leaving nothing to question. And when you are finished, I will do you the courtesy of providing a rebuttal in favor of solar and wind power.
@ Thomas.Atwood: PS - I will continue to ask the same questions until you actually answer them. Or until I get tired.