The News Virginian
by Editorial Staff

If you listen to many of those opposing the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, this alleged messenger of death will despoil both nature’s beauty and the bucolic towns nestled within it — killing off rare species, ruining scenic vistas, putting countless lives in peril, razing mountains, crippling small businesses, and so forth.

This is important if true. But is it?

Not likely. That’s not to say that we don’t encourage the use of renewable sources. We do. We also understand the concerns of environmentalists and pipeline opposition groups, including the local and very outspoken Friends of Augusta. They have raised certain safety and environmental issues that must be addressed.

But the Armageddon scenarios that some of these groups are perpetuating are over-the-top scare tactics that have no place in reasoned debate. Could a pipeline “explode”? Of course. Lots of things “could” happen. Gas pumps at any number of local convenience stores could explode. That doesn’t stop us from using them. Calculated risks are a part of life.

The question we must ask in any endeavor is, is the risk-reward ratio acceptable? We believe the answer is “yes, it is.”

More than anything, experience leads us to this conclusion. For the fact is, thousands upon thousands of miles of gas pipelines already crisscross Virginia. And hardly anybody ever notices. Once the ACP is in the ground, we doubt many folks will notice it, either.

Read the full editorial in The News Virginian