Las Vegas – In his first public campaign stop in southern Nevada, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney dodged questions about his stance on the construction of a nuclear waste dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Asked his position on Yucca Mountain, a project adamantly opposed by Nevada and most voters in the state, the former Massachusetts governor suggested that he might be sympathetic to Nevada’s fight, but he fell short of taking a firm stance.
“I’m a federalist. I believe in the authority of states, and clearly Nevadans have a lot to say about this and other policies,” Romney told reporters after meeting with campaign volunteers. “My position is I’m not going to do anything that puts the health or well-being of Nevadans at risk. It’s something I’m going to look at further.”
Yucca Mountain is a politically tricky issue for presidential candidates trying to woo Nevada voters, who have newfound clout thanks to early caucuses on Jan. 19.
The Associated Press
