Natural gas pipes safer in Georgia

This article is arguing for the replacement of natural gas pipelines in

Georgia by use of surcharges. The argument was made in the Atlanta

Journal Constitution. The person making the argument is Stan Wise who is

a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission; whose job it is to see

that that consumers receive safe, reliable and reasonably priced

telecommunications, transportation, electric and natural gas services from

financially viable and technically competent companies.

The article is looking at the natural gas pipelines in Georgia and the

potential issues that they can cause if they are not maintained and

maintenanced. An example was given of what can happen when this does

not occur. In this example an entire neighborhood was destroyed; killing

many people. The issue with replacing the line is that it cost approximately

600 million dollars, which the average state budget cannot afford to

absorb. The solution was to add a surcharge of $1.05 on natural gas,

which was to last for 10 years. In 11 years, the system has raised 580

million dollars. The money has helped reduce maintenance cost, reduce

the amount of gas lost from the lines, reduced the amount of lines that has

to be monitored and make it safer. The premise of the argument is that 1)

the current system needs to be repaired; 2) our current system has parts

that are in disrepair; 3) the surcharges would have positive results. The

conclusion is that 4) we should use surcharges to help replace natural gas

pipelines.

This is a healthy argument due to the fact that the premise supports the

conclusion. It provides concrete facts that prove the authors case for the

surcharge for new natural gas pipelines in Georgia. There is much

hesitation among citizens recently as it relates to surcharges due to the

mismanagement of funds by the government. Yet, in this case, things seem

to be working out for the best.

http://www.ajc.com/opinion/natural-gas-pipes-safer-618640.html