Comment from Plant Peace Daily
Plant Peace DailyOpposeIndividual
Summary: The commenter opposes the proposed rule, arguing that it would allow factory farms to hide environmental violations and animal cruelty from public scrutiny. They contend that there is no evidence of drone threats to these facilities and that aerial photojournalism is a vital tool for public interest.
Factory farms have spent decades hiding what happens inside their facilities from the public that consumes their products. Granting food and agriculture operations the ability to obtain Unmanned Aircraft Flight Restrictions would hand them another tool to do exactly that — this time with federal aviation authority as the enforcement mechanism.
There is no documented evidence of drones threatening safety or security at these facilities. There is extensive documented evidence of drone footage exposing false marketing claims, environmental violations, and systematic animal cruelty. The public interest runs entirely in the opposite direction of this proposed rule.
I urge the FAA not to develop gating criteria for this sector and not to grant UAFRs to food and agriculture facilities. Photojournalism conducted from the air is one of the last remaining tools the public has to see what the industry works so hard to conceal.