U.S. Mayors Disagree With Parts of Bush Agenda

By Cat Lazaroff

MADISON, Wisconsin, June 20, 2002 (ENS) - The nation's mayors disagree with the Bush administration on a number of environmental issues, judging by the resolutions made at their 70th annual meeting over the weekend. The U.S. Conference of Mayors resolved to oppose cross country nuclear shipments, and to support action on global warming and power plant emissions.

Salt Lake City, Utah Mayor Ross Anderson cosponsored the resolution opposing nuclear shipments to Yucca Mountain, Nevada. (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)

President George W. Bush officially approved the Yucca Mountain repository earlier this year, and the House of Representatives has given its seal of approval as well. A Senate committee passed a resolution to allow the construction of the repository last month, and a full Senate vote is expected later this month.

But many Americans, including those who live near the Yucca Mountain site, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, fear that the repository or the shipments destined for its depths could pose a major risk to the environment and human health.

Reno, Nevada Mayor Jeff Griffin cosponsored the resolution opposing Yucca Mountain. (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)

"In its enthusiasm for cheap power generation, Congress promoted development of nuclear power without an effective waste disposal plan," the mayors said in a resolution drafted Saturday and officially adopted on Monday.

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Energy Agency of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has concluded that plans to solve the waste disposal problem by storing high level radioactive wastes deep underground in Nevada are not supported by science, the resolution charges.

Yucca Mountain (Photo courtesy DOE)

The mayors are particularly concerned about how nuclear materials will be shipped to the proposed Yucca Mountain site, a project for which the DOE "has no feasible plan," the resolution states. The casks that the DOE proposes to use for shipping high level radioactive wastes "have never undergone full scale physical testing to determine if they can withstand likely transportation accident and terrorism scenarios."

Community fears about the potential for accidents or sabotage to release radioactivity from the shipments have escalated since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the mayors said.

"There is national acknowledgment of risks to our security and the safety of our communities presented by the transportation" of high level wastes, the mayors charge, adding that "scientists predict as many as 340 transportation accidents" during the shipments, and "a single terrorist attack could result in thousands of cancer deaths and cost up to $17 billion in clean up costs."

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson addresses the U.S. Conference of Mayors. (Photo courtesy U.S. Conference of Mayors)

"It's probably more unsafe to have them spread throughout the country, the way they're stored right now," Thompson said at a news conference after the mayors' resolution was passed. "It would be safer to consolidate them and put under security at Yucca Mountain, rather than keeping them dispersed throughout Wisconsin, throughout the country."

The mayors also argued that the proposed Yucca Mountain repository, the only storage site now under consideration by the federal government, will reach capacity by 2036, leaving about 85 percent of existing high level nuclear wastes in temporary storage.

"The United States Conference of Mayors urges the United States Senate to postpone approval of the Department of Energy Yucca Mountain Repository until critical transportation issues are resolved and a comprehensive, safe and permanent solution to the entire nuclear waste storage problem is determined," the mayors concluded.

The Conference's opposition to the Yucca Mountain project was one of several areas in which the mayors disagreed with the official policies of the Bush administration. In separate resolutions, the mayors also called for more action to reduce air pollution from power plants and combat global warming.

Santa Barbara, California Mayor Marty Blum cosponsored a resolution seeking tighter regulation of power plant emissions. (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)

Last week, the Bush administration proposed modifications to the new source review provisions of the Clean Air Act that would make it easier for older power plants to continue operations without upgrading their emissions control equipment.

"The U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages Congress and the Administration to pass new legislation requiring older power plants to reduce all air emissions," the mayors wrote. The group also supports "a comprehensive and synchronized multi-pollutant market based program to reduce regulatory costs and provide certainty to the electric power sector in ways that do not compromise public health."

Peter Clavelle, Mayor of Burlington, Vermont, cosponsored the resolution calling for emissions reductions at older power plants. (Photo courtesy Office of the Mayor)

"Until any new programs have been proven over time to be as protective as current Clean Air Act programs, The U.S. Conference of Mayors encourages [the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] and Congress to keep those programs in place, with multi-pollutant legislation as an addition to current clean air law," the mayors resolved.

Regarding global warming, the mayors called for action to reduce the human causes of climate change, arguing that "the scientific community has reached a consensus that human activities are impacting the Earth's climate."

"Global climate change is caused by emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from energy used by the business, transportation, and residential sectors, as well as methane from the decay of waste," the mayors noted.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, cosponsored a resolution calling for action on global warming. (Photo courtesy U.S. Conference of Mayors)

"Mayors are uniquely situated to lead national climate protection efforts by taking action in a broad range of areas," the resolution states, adding that "many mayors are already pursuing programs and policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their cities and communities, including more than 125 local governments that have committed to assessing emissions, setting a specific reduction target for greenhouse gas emissions and monitoring progress."

President Bush has withdrawn the United States from the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty to limit the emission of six greenhouse gases linked to global warming. Bush says the Protocol would cost the U.S. money, and instead proposes to reduce the rate at which U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increase - while still allowing such emissions to grow.

The nation's mayors took a more proactive approach. "The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls on cities and communities to join the commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by adopting policies that encourage energy conservation and a reduction in municipal energy use by 10 percent, by adopting standards for energy efficiency in buildings and use of renewable energy resources, and by reducing fuel consumption through broader commitments to public transit and other alternatives to automobiles," they declared.

The mayors called for state and federal governments to provide resources that could help local governments implement measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For a complete list of resolutions passed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors 2002 Annual Meeting, visit: http://usmayors.org/70thAnnualMeeting/2002resolutions.pdf