Editor’s Note: A guest post by Randy Hayden of Louisianans For Energy.

Last week, nine protesters trespassed on private property in Jeff Davis Parish to demonstrate against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline. According to authorities, these protesters were “mingling near heavy equipment [and] ‘causing a safety hazard for themselves and the construction workers’,” according to the Daily Advertiser. They were cited for trespassing and released.

What is more, the majority of these protesters are not even from Louisiana. Hailing from destinations as far away as Portland, Oregon and New York, New York, these agitators took it upon themselves to travel to our state and seemingly attempt to disrupt construction of an infrastructure project that local residents support. Only one of the protesters cited was from nearby New Orleans.

Simply put, the ongoing demonstrations against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline aren’t representative of the will of Louisiana residents. Rather, as these recent citations would suggest, out-of-state agitators who don’t understand or even care about the best interests of Louisiana or its residents are attempting to latch onto this project as an opportunity to promote their unrealistic anti-fossil fuel agenda.

Ultimately, Louisianians know that the safe transportation of energy resources is crucial to the economic success of the state. The Bayou Bridge Pipeline will accomplish that goal, ensuring that crude oil reaches regional refineries efficiently, with no adverse effects on our environment or local communities. We also know that construction of this project will result in significant benefits for local communities, including good paying construction jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue.

Louisianians for Energy encourages our fellow state residents to reject any attempt by out-of-state agitators to cause harm to this important infrastructure project.