We’re willing to bet that Bath Police Department has some really nice holding cells. We only say this because every time a new warship is christened at Bath Iron Works, protesters descend upon downtown Bath, many with the aim of getting arrested.

Such was the case again last weekend shortly before the christening of the future USS Lyndon Johnson when 25 protesters seemed to intentionally block traffic and, after warnings from police, got jailed as a result.

This year, the protesters sheathed their antiwar message behind a façade of a climate change admonition, and some vague but often-repeated (and, to be fair, not entirely inaccurate) notion that war is often linked to oil linked to climate change linked to big business.

There are better ways to affect change on the local, state and national level. We see that in a proposed ban on polystyrene food containers that is headed toward Gov. Mills’ signature. We see that in a yearslong effort to get Congress to pass a carbon fee and dividend act. Yet, none of those actions match the pizazz of martyrdom afforded by a pair of wrist restraints.

General Dynamics-owned Bath Iron Works is in the business of making warships. That’s its mission. That’s not going to stop because a couple-dozen protesters block a bus carrying guests to a christening.

Without a practical vision, there’s little meaning to the protesters’ acts, other than to relive the turbulence of the 1960s where you’d go to San Francisco with flowers in your hair but leave with tear gas in your eyes.

If their objective was to get facetime in front of the camera: Mission accomplished. Nothing’s as eye-catching as a group of septuagenarians laying down on the street to disrupt a ceremony.

In any event, congratulations to those who received the attention they craved. But we’re convinced there’s more practical ways to combat climate change.