BAPB* No. 12: Interesting climate news, bad football predictions, the bowl edition!

*Bouncing Around Paul's Brain

Interesting Climate Reads/Watches

This Brookings podcast is one of the best overviews of where we've been on climate policy, where we are going, and what we need to do next. It actually tilts a little toward the hopeful side, which we need on this topic. There are good arguments both ways as to whether there's any point taking individual action to reduce greenhouse gases. I don't see any harm in trying, particularly when there are other benefits involved. If you think personal action is important, this New York Times quiz will test what you know about which actions make the most difference. And this New York Times map shows you the greenhouse gas emissions from your neighborhood. Mine is very high due to large houses and high incomes. In general, wealthier and more suburban neighborhoods contribute the most carbon into the atmosphere. Sorry about the pay wall, but somebody does have to pay for expensive toys like this! If you want to know about your neighborhood, put your rough location in the comments and I'll look it up for you.

College Football Picks, 1st 2 weeks of bowl season

Do we need 43 college bowl and playoff games? No, we need 51, which is what we'll probably get with the new expanded playoff system. Sadly, that means four or five teams will be left out of the fun, probably even Navy and Army. Which brings me to note that last week is the first my predictions have been perfect (one of one game picked right)! Let's see if we can continue that. These picks take us up to Dec. 30, so will involve teams from places you did not know were colleges. And don't even let me start on the ridiculous names for bowls. But like all college football, this is about TV ratings and not sports or college or anything else.

If you're interested in what to watch on TV (or in person; who doesn't want to spend the holidays in Boise or Montgomery?) then you might consider:

• Best changes for an upset: Tennessee over Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Also the most likely to be a close game among the 8 or so top bowls.

• Games that should be really close and maybe worth watching clear through (ignoring some matchups among small schools playing to empty stands in weird places): Mississippi-Texas Tech, Maryland-NC State.

Bowls are often the hardest games to pick, since coaches change (one even died this week), players have already announced they are leaving, and there's not much incentive for most teams to win. So there's my excuse, here's my mistakes!

Updated 1/3/23: In this first round of picks I was 15-8 both straight up and against the line, both miracles considering my recent performance and the randomness of bowls. Next year I'm gambling my Social Security checks on the bowls!

Team 1	Team 2	Line	Winner Pick	Line Pick
Miami (OH)	Ala.-Birmingham	UAB by 11	UAB	Miami
Texas-San Antonio	Troy	Troy by 1.5	Troy	Troy
Cincinnati	Louisville	Louisville by 2	Cincinnati	Cincinnati
Florida	Oregon St.	Oregon St. by 10	Oregon St.	Florida
Washington St.	Fresno St.	Fresno by 3.5	Wash. St.	Wash. St.
Rice	So. Mississippi	So. Miss by 6	So. Miss	So. Miss
SMU	BYU	SMU by 3.5	SMU	SMU
N. Texas	Boise St.	Boise by 10.5	Boise	N. Texas
Marshall	Connecticut	Marshall by 10	Marshall	Conn.
E. Michigan	San Jose St	SJ State by 3.5	S.J. State	E. Michigan
Liberty	Toledo	Toledo by 5	Liberty	Liberty
W. Kentucky	S. Alabama	S. Alabama by 4.5	S. Alabama	S. Alabama
Baylor	Air Force	Baylor by 5.5	Baylor	Baylor
Louisiana	Houston	Houston by 7	Houston	Louisiana
Wake Forest	Missouri	Wake by 1	Wake	Wake
Middle Tenn.	San Diego St.	SD State by 7	S.D. State	Middle Tenn.
New Mexico St.	Bowling Green	Bowling Gr. by 3.5	N.M. State	N.M. State
Georgia So.	Buffalo	Ga. So. by 3.5	Buffalo	Buffalo
Memphis	Utah St.	Memphis by 7	Memphis	Memphis

One team	Another Team	Line	Winner Pick	Line Pick
Coastal Carolina	E. Carolina	E. Carolina by 8	E. Carolina	Coastal
Wisconsin	Okla. State	Wisc. by 3	OK State	OK State
Central Fla.	Duke	Duke by 3	Duke	Duke
Kansas	Arkansas	Arkansas by 3	Kansas	Kansas
Oregon	N. Carolina	Oregon by 14	Oregon	N. Carolina
Texas Tech	Mississippi	Mississippi by 3.5	Texas Tech	Texas Tech
Syracuse	Minnesota	Minnesota by 7.5	Minnesota	Syracuse
Oklahoma	Florida St.	Florida St. by 7.5	Florida St.	Oklahoma
Texas	Washington	Texas by 4.5	Texas	Washington
Maryland	N.C. State	Maryland by 1.5	Maryland	N.C. State
Pittsburgh	UCLA	UCLA by 6	UCLA	Pitt
Notre Dame	S. Carolina	Notre Dame by 2	Notre Dame	Notre Dame
Ohio	Wyoming	Even	Ohio	Ohio
Tennessee	Clemson	Clemson by 6.5	Tennessee	Tennessee