In June opponents of a coal-fired power plant in Wise blocked access to Dominion Resources' corporate headquarters on Tredegar Street. The protest caused traffic backups affecting countless citizens who had nothing to do with the plant or with Dominion.

Authorities charged 12 participants with misdemeanors. The other day 10 of the 12 entered plea bargains requiring them to perform community service in return for having the charges erased from their records. Two will go to trial.

Marley Green -- whose 225 hours of service rates as the toughest term -- says, "I went into this knowing there would be consequences and was prepared for it."

That's the attitude. Protesters ought to welcome consequences. Indeed, classical civil disobedience requires them. Few protests involve the disobedience associated with Gandhi and Martin Luther King, but in certain instances demonstrators who impose hardships and costs on others ought to pay a price for their behavior. The Tredegar action marked such a time.

We support the plant at Wise. We oppose the tactics used against Dominion. But we appreciate the sentiments expressed by Green, and wish more shared them.