Article ignored the great work done by Rescue Project

I found your article on The Student Rescue Project extremely one-sided (“Puppies’ deaths raise questions: Owners shocked after pets die days after adoption from Norwich nonprofit,” Nov. 16). That article focused on an exception, not the rule.

It is a tragedy when puppies are unknowingly sick or become sick. That being said, Executive Director Aimee Goodwin and the entire organization work tirelessly to rescue, transport, rehabilitate, foster and then place needy dogs in safe and loving homes. They have saved hundreds of dogs and brought tremendous joy to many families across the Upper Valley. I know this to be true as I have fostered two of their amazing puppies. A third foster quickly turned into a “foster fail,” meaning we adopted him, and Ozzy is the most wonderful dog and addition to our family.

And while we all feel horribly sad for the families whose puppies didn’t make it, your one-sided article can potentially damage all the great work this organization does every day. Student Rescue’s only goal is to save as many dogs and puppies as possible and they should be supported by our community.

VANESSA ALLEN

Thetford

Advance notice of candidate visits would be helpful

With the New Hampshire presidential primary quickly approaching, and with so many candidates competing, we are guaranteed to continue to see a steady parade of hopefuls through the Upper Valley in the months ahead. While the Valley News often covers these visits, it would be helpful to provide readers with a daily list of the upcoming scheduled visits of candidates to the Upper Valley (showing the times, places and conditions for attendance) so voters can more easily plan to attend events that interest them. I do understand that some of the candidate visits may be planned with little lead time, but it’s in their best interest to make the schedules available as soon as possible.

STEPHEN BAYES

Lebanon

Editor’s note: Planned visits to the Upper Valley by presidential candidates are regularly noted in John Gregg’s Primary Source column, which appears most Thursdays, and often in news briefs at other times during the week.

Fight climate crisis with your choice of automobile

Besides public transportation advocacy, a decision that will have a big impact on the climate crisis is the type and make of cars Americans buy. After hearing that the Trump administration would drop the average national fuel economy standard from the Obama target of 54.5 mpg to 37 mpg, we read that between 321 million and 1.25 billion more metric tons of CO2 would be pumped into the atmosphere by 2035 — more CO2 than many midsize countries produce in a year.

We were hopeful when BMW, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen all agreed to follow the higher California standards allowed under the Clean Air Act. However, the Trump administration has now revoked the legal authority for California and 21 other states to follow these higher standards. It has also opened an antitrust inquiry against these four automakers. California and 21 other states, including Vermont, are now suing the administration, arguing that they have the authority under the Clean Air Act to set the higher standards.

It was dismaying to read that, under pressure, Fiat Chrysler, General Motors and Toyota will be joining the Trump administration in arguing that the states do not have the right to set higher clean air standards. We have been the satisfied owners of a Toyota Rav4 hybrid until now. We will be writing the CEOs of BMW, Ford, Honda and Volkswagen complimenting them on doing the right thing and saying that we will choose one of their models when we buy a new car next year. And we will be writing to Chrysler, Fiat, GM and Toyota stating that car buyers will not forget their decision to make the climate crisis worse. If we act collectively and these companies get tons of letters and see their sales drop, they may agree to help save the planet.

SUE TAYLOR

Plainfield

How do we explain all this to the kids?

Here’s my question: Where have all the Republicans gone? Where is the vocal “Moral Majority”? Where are the “family values” candidates? The party that was aghast at President Bill Clinton’s offenses? We have someone in the White House who has been so consistently immoral that most of his infractions don’t even make the front page of the Valley News anymore. People are tired of hearing them. Can you imagine that?

Let’s think for one moment what would have happened if President Barack Obama had done one of those things — had an extramarital affair, called anyone who spoke against him a bad name, refused to hand over his tax returns, used the office for personal gain, befriended our country’s adversaries while alienating our allies, dismissed climate change … I’d better stop before it gets tiring.

As an educator for more than 20 years, I find it’s becoming harder and harder to explain to students why name-calling, bullying and lying are unacceptable. History will, I’m afraid, reveal the cowardice and egotistical nature of many of our politicians, and only time will heal the damage that has been allowed to happen.

JENNIFER YOCOM

East Thetford