Six key lifestyle changes can help avert the climate crisis, study finds

  • Last week the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued its “bleakest warning yet”, saying the climate crisis was accelerating rapidly with only a narrow chance left of avoiding its worst ravages.
  • Bailey said as the world reaches the edge of ecological collapse, it needed a workable alternative to this ‘universal consumer society’ in the next decade.
  • “The research is clear that governments and the private sector have the largest role to play but it is also equally clear from our analysis that individuals and communities can make a huge difference.”
  • The Jump campaign asks people to sign up to take the following six “shifts” for one, three or six months:
  •  Eat a largely plant-based diet, with healthy portions and no waste
  •  Buy no more than three new items of clothing per year
  •  Keep electrical products for at least seven years
  •  Take no more than one short haul flight every three years and one long haul flight every eight years
  •  Get rid of personal motor vehicles if you can – and if not keep hold of your existing vehicle for longer
  •  Make at least one life shift to nudge the system, like moving to a green energy, insulating your home or changing pension supplier
  • The campaign was officially kicked off on Saturday and Bailey said there was already a growing movement emerging in response to the evidence with Jump groups up and running around the country.

Source: dailymail.co.uk

Congress Just Gave Itself A 21 Percent Pay Raise With Pork-Packed Omnibus Bill While Surging Gas Prices, Inflation Hurt Americans

  • As Americans face an economic crisis, historic inflation and surging gas prices, Congress released a $1.5 trillion omnibus bill on Wednesday allocating $5.9 billion of fiscal 2022 Legislative Branch funding to boosting the allowance and salaries of their staff.
  • The legislation would grant $774.4 million for the Members Representational Allowance, which funds the House budgets for lawmakers, including staffer salaries and $1.7 billion for House operations.
  • “This $134.4 million, or 21 percent, boost over the previous fiscal year marks the largest increase in the MRA appropriation since it was authorized in 1996, according to a bill summary by the House Appropriations Committee,” Roll Call reports.
  • The bill does not technically provide a raise for members of Congress, who earn an annual salary of $174,000. But House staffers, who members use to run errands, and family members of Congressional lawmakers who are often put on payroll, will see a pay increase.
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  • The measure would provide the Senate with $1.1 billion for salaries and operations and $7 million for Senate intern salaries.
  • The Capitol Police department would also receive $602.5 million, $87 million more than it was provided in the 2021 fiscal year.

Source: thegatewaypundit.com

Yuan deposits replace dollar and euro in Russian banks

  • With Russia now officially cut off from both the US dollar and the euro, the state-owned VTB Bank has offered its clientele the opportunity to open Chinese yuan savings accounts that yield a maximum interest rate of 8%. The country’s second-biggest bank has been hit by the Western sanctions aimed at the total financial isolation of Russia over its war in Ukraine.
  • “In light of the rising dollar and euro exchange rates, many clients are showing interest in investing in other currencies, and the yuan is one of the most affordable and promising options for investing funds,” the bank said in a statement.

Source: rt.com