A bit of social awareness goes a long way.

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) public hearing held Thursday at Longwood University to receive comments on draft water quality certifications “designed to protect water quality” along the route of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) was put into recess once due to behavior in the audience that was distractive.

In that specific instance, a project supporter was speaking on Alaskan pipelines that he’d worked with, noting having little to no problems with spillage. That’s when someone near the front stood up with claims that his information was incorrect in an impassioned yell.

Heather Wood, a board member of the State Water Control Board, and Melanie Davenport, DEQ’s director of water permitting, walked away before coming back to the table to continue the hearing a few minutes later.

The behavior didn’t stop there. When supporters continued to speak, I heard laughing at certain phrases such as “clean energy” or a statement that pipelines are built to withstand natural disasters and therefore aren’t dangerous.

When behavior like that at the hearing began, you lost an element of respect that I may have had prior to the hearing for your cause. And that’s sad, because if I — after this began — have stopped taking you serious, then how do you expect the majority to view your plight?

If you want to be heard, communicate in a way that will curry more favor rather than in a way that will garner more support from those who are already on your side.

Morgan White is a staff reporter for The Farmville Herald and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. His email address is Morgan.White@FarmvilleHerald.com.