The drones are coming!

Dec. 20 I attended a presentation that the Whatcom Green Party put on. It's a series on drones. Four guest speakers presented different aspects of the drones and what we should know about them before they darken our skies.

Some drones are the size of a large air carrier and some as small as a dragon fly. They can be incredibly noisy and so quiet they could hover right behind your head and you'd never know it. By 2015 we could have as many as 30,000 drones flying in U.S. airspace.

There have been over 300 permits applied for this year alone, Seattle being one of them. This includes universities, private corporations, and local police departments. Like all new technology, drones can be used for good and for bad. It's the bad I'm worried about.

Before we are inundated with these drones we need to get on top of this issue and educate ourselves. Some cities have already instituted policies of no drones in their airspace.

I will be attending the rest of this series.

Victoria Marx

Bellingham