Letters to the Editor | Nov. 20, 2022

I was quite distressed to read about the challenges that Dobbins High School is facing. In 1970, the school was my first teaching assignment with the district. It offered wonderful opportunities for students — and, for the most part, the students understood this. Dobbins had just introduced foreign language instruction to meet entrance requirements for those who went on to college. Perhaps, Dobbins graduates of a past era could intervene by explaining to the current students the pressing need for them to succeed in a career. That said, as an educator for over 50 years, I strongly remind parents that education and proper comportment begin in only one place — the home.

R. Chasan, Jenkintown

So, Alex Jones’ attorney considers the recent monetary judgment against his client a tragedy? I beg to differ. It is a tragedy when someone you love is taken by gun violence. It is a tragedy when malicious fabrications denying what happened are spread across the country. It is a tragedy when deluded individuals threaten you and accost you and accuse you of lying about a devastatingly painful loss. No amount of money can compensate the families of the Sandy Hook victims, but maybe it will put this rumormonger out of business and send a message to those in the far-right-wing media that truth matters and that they will be held accountable for their dishonesty.

Toni Tomei Culleton, Philadelphia

While the world watches COP27 unfold in Egypt, I’m reminded of when news that climate change threatens the world food supply was making headlines, prompted by the release of a summary report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The report points out what COP27 overlooks. It detailed how climate change is turning arable land to desert, degrading soil, and increasing devastating weather effects. It concluded that avoiding starvation and mass migrations requires fundamental changes in current animal agriculture and land management practices, which account for 23% of human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. The conclusions of the report matched closely to those by Oxford University in 2017 and by Chatham House in 2015. A 2010 U.N. report blamed animal agriculture for 19% of greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of freshwater use, and 38% of land use. All reports recommend a shift to plant-based eating. In an environmentally sustainable world, meat and dairy products in our diet must be replaced by plant-based options, just as fossil fuels are replaced by wind, solar, and other pollution-free energy sources. There are so many alternatives to meat and dairy available today that we owe it to our planet to make a change.

Eric C. Lindstrom, executive director, Farm Animal Rights Movement

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