Nobody Asked Me, But...
Annals of Greenwich: Cat food shortages, the irony of stars, door wreaths
Annals of Greenwich
How the Fight Against Carbon Emissions Caused a Cat Food Shortage in Town
For weeks, I have had trouble finding chicken cat food. My cat hates seafood, beef, turkey — everything except chicken—so it’s kind of a big deal.
I tried ordering a case of chicken cat food from Amazon, and received 24 cans of salmon cat food. The cat wouldn’t touch it.
I asked the pet store checker today what is going on.
Turns out there is a shortage of aluminum. Cat food producers — and breweries and fizzy drink makers— are affected. Since the end of 2019, the price is up 42%, after peaking in mid-October at a level unseen since the 2007-2008 financial meltdown.
And why is aluminum in short supply?
One word: China. The Chinese have finally decided to cut carbon emissions, and the government put a squeeze on energy consumption. John Detrixhe of Quartz reported that because of the new restrictions, Chinese aluminum smelters can no longer meet global demand. What aluminum is produced in China largely stays China, where demand is rising.
It’s not just about aluminum. Cheap, relatively unregulated Chinese energy was one of the attractions that brought U.S. manufacturers to China. American glassmakers once numbered in the hundreds, but they can’t keep the necessary huge furnaces going today. It would be too expensive.
Although the pandemic and government stimulus are blamed for the current inflation, wholesale prices for Chinese goods, as well as the cost of shipping, had begun rising well before the pandemic hit.
Orion Rising
When I left Manhattan in 2019 for Old Greenwich, for the first time in 25 years I could step outside my house to see constellations. Orion, Theseus, Cassiopeia and Cepheus, Andromeda, Perseus, Taurus, the Great Bear, the Little Bear.
When redevelopment forced me to move again this year, I was lucky enough to find a new 100-year-old house in Greenwich. Alas, Greenwich is usually cloudy. On good nights, I see Jupiter. Two nights ago, I saw Orion. He was all alone.
So I am dreaming of desert skies. I missed stars so much in Manhattan that I traveled to the Atacama Desert in Chile, where the sky is so clear that astronomers come from the world over to work with the region’s advanced telescopes.
One of the world’s ironies is that Las Vegas, where the constantly lighted casinos have no windows, probably has splendid views of the night sky.
My friend Rodney Perdew says irony is the material the universe is made of.
Christmas Wreaths
Check out these pretty creations from members of my garden club. Click the “Present” button in the upper right.