Political stalling over Supreme Court is nothing new

The Hill’s Aug. 6 article “Obama allies: GOP will cave in Supreme Court fight” quotes Nathaniel Gryll of the Alliance for Justice on the Senate’s failure to confirm judicial vacancies, saying “There’s no explanation other than they are holding the seats open with the hope that they will be filled by a Republican president.”

This is the same conduct that the Democrats used late in the Eisenhower administration. Notwithstanding an administration offer to fill approximately 60 new district court seats and nine circuit court seats on an equal basis between the two parties, the Democratic-controlled Senate gambled that their party would win both the White House and the Senate and thus be able to fill all the new judgeships.

From Daniel H. Borinsky, Alexandria, Va.

Deductions are not subsidies

Tax policy should be focused on economic investment and job growth (“To lead abroad on climate, repeal oil and gas tax breaks at home,” Gilbert E. Metcalf, The Hill’s Contributors blog, Aug. 9). Like every business in America, oil and natural gas companies deduct operating costs when filing taxes. But these deductions are not subsidies, and any credible report would not describe them as such, especially when our industry contributes about $60 million a day on average to the federal government in revenue. These necessary expenses for the drilling and preparation of wells represent direct investment in the U.S. economy and American jobs and help our industry produce affordable and reliable energy for consumers.

The United States is now the No. 1 producer of oil and natural gas in the world and is leading the world in reducing emissions like carbon, which are near 20-year lows due largely to increased use of clean-burning natural gas. Since 2000, the oil and gas sector has invested more than twice as much as any other industry in zero- and low-carbon technologies. Leading the world in both carbon reductions and in production of oil and natural gas demonstrates we can continue environmental progress without jeopardizing the energy production that is saving U.S. households $1,337 per year and enhancing American energy security.

From Stephen Comstock, director of tax and accounting policy, the American Petroleum Institute, Washington, D.C.

Piping up for PVC

I am writing to bring attention to an inaccuracy in a recent piece published by The Hill (“A public-private system to improve our nation’s water supply,” The Hill’s Congress Blog, by Keith Pemrick, Aug. 8).

The University of Michigan (UM) study cited in the piece was sponsored by the ductile iron pipe industry association (DIPRA), a connection Pemrick should have disclosed to readers. The study is also highly flawed. Specifically, its authors falsely claim that the director of Utah State University’s Buried Structures Laboratory, Steven Folkman, who has extensively analyzed the break rates of different pipe material, stated that the life expectancy of PVC pipe is limited to between 41 to 60 years. But Folkman said no such thing, and wrote a letter telling the study’s authors “there is no such statement in that paper.” The letter goes on to say that Folkman’s research, along with at least 15 other published studies from around the world, all conclude that “properly design and installed PVC will have an expected life in excess of 100 years.”

In addition to repeating this error, Pemrick’s piece omits clear downsides of ductile iron pipe. For instance, a recent City of Detroit analysis shows that the pumping efficiency for ductile iron pipe continually declines with age, and does not remain at factory specifications, as the DIPRA-sponsored UM report claims. Indeed, as reported by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in a study on pipe procurement and performance, the American Water Works Association has even concluded that ductile iron pipe in moderately corrosive soils may only last 11-14 years. Utah State University found that PVC pipe has the lowest overall failure. When 75 percent of all utilities have corrosive soil conditions, this is very important to take into account.

Our country’s water infrastructure is indeed in need of an upgrade, but ductile iron pipe is not the solution. 

From Bruce Hollands, executive director, PVC Pipe Association, Washington, D.C.