We have an opportunity to make important changes in state law, but we need to position our concerns in a more positive mode. Instead of trying to get a law passed that tells us what we can’t do (can’t ban a specific breed of dog), we have a better chance of getting legislation if we strengthen existing laws, and clarify what a community expects dog owners’ responsibilities to encompass. Licensing, identification and spaying or neutering pets are specific and enforceable. Providing training, socialization, proper health care and diet are more difficult to enforce but need to be addressed to identify a community’s expectation of its pet owners. Making irresponsible owners more liable for aggression and damage by their pets to people and property and the inhumane treatment of their own or other animals is a better way to get a viable set of laws passed.

Bruce Papier

Santa Fe

Greener cars

Need a new vehicle? With the new fuel economy standards kicking in, an impressive array of efficient vehicle options is available for 2013. Check out greenercars.org for environmental ratings and advice on how to buy green when shopping for a new car or truck. Vehicles are analyzed on unhealthy tailpipe emissions, fuel consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change. The hybrid Toyota Prius C secured the top spot with a highway/city MPG of 53/46. Toyota cars were also No. 3 and 4 on the list. Other top scorers are the Honda Fit electric vehicle (No. 2) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (No. 5). Three Ford vehicles made the list: the Focus EV and the Fusion and C-Max hybrids. The dirtiest vehicles are three Ford pickups. However, things are looking up for U.S. manufacturers. They claimed six of 12 “Greener Choices” slots.

Peter Borgo

Santa Fe

Keeping count

Do you wonder just how many people are killed by guns in America? How many have died by gun since Sandy Hook? Go to https://twitter.com/gundeaths. I’m retired, and I can’t come up with the time to read them all. Surely somebody needs to control every individual gun. Clearly nobody is right now. If the owners of guns are incapable of controlling them, somebody else will have to. Gun owners, control your weapons.

Mike Plantz

San José, N.M.

Show some class

Talk about class warfare! Did Paul Morrison and the party for which he works so diligently learn anything in the last year? He puts a venomous slant on Mitt Romney’s 47 percent elitism. No, the president and 51 percent of the voters are not “jealous” of the “producers.” They understand that a strong middle class is crucial to the economic success of our country and to the continued wealth of those Mr. Morrison is so concerned to protect.

Having worked in management positions for major corporations, small businesses and in my own business producing jobs, my “real economic knowledge” demonstrated that the fruit of employees’ labor and their dedication contributed to the success of those at the top, who often were not any smarter or harder-working than they were. And their paychecks were not only important to them and their families, but to the businesses in the community.

The wealthy have done well in the past decades. Why not show more concern for those in the middle class whose incomes have stagnated?

Barbara Watson

Santa Fe

At what cost?

However well-intentioned minimum-wage laws may be, they come with a cost, especially to low-skill workers but also to consumers and the general economy. This fact has again been confirmed by the closure of Santa Fe’s Village Inn, reported in The New Mexican (“Village Inn owner blasts city’s minimum-wage law,” Jan. 16).

When higher wages are mandated, businesses bear the additional cost by reducing hiring, work hours, benefits and by charging higher prices. If a business is unable to make these adjustments, it closes, and the jobs it provides are lost.

In the current tough economic conditions, policies are needed to encourage economic growth and private-sector jobs. Policies requiring employers to hire workers that cost more than the income they can generate burden our economy and destroy jobs. While the minimum-wage might help a few workers, it does so by destroying much-needed jobs for our lowest-skilled workers.

Scott Ullery

Lamy