Anti-realists attack climate science in new ad campaign

According to leaked documents, the new Shell advertising campaign is based on a lightly edited version of the introduction to Haley’s PhD dissertation.

A series of television ads funded by Shell Oil Company hit the airwaves this week, responding to last month’s statement by Métaphysiciens Sans Frontières calling for immediate action to reduce global climate change.  The ads, produced by the public relations firm Anti-Realists for Responsible Science, take aim at mainstream climate science in general and the MSF statement in particular.

The first commercial aired Monday, focusing on the claim by MSF spokesman Frank Jackson that, if historical patterns continue, the carbon dioxide concentration of the earth’s atmosphere will reach a dangerous tipping point of 450 parts per million by mid-century.  In the ad, ARRS founder Jack Haley dismisses Jackson’s warning as “naive enumerative inductivism.”  Haley notes that for every year on record carbon dioxide levels have been below 450 parts per million.  ”If that pattern continues, we’ll never reach 450 parts per million,” says Haley.  ”So by Jackson’s own logic we both will and won’t reach the alleged tipping point.  Which is it, Mr. Jackson?  Will we or won’t we? The American people await your answer.”

Métaphysiciens Sans Frontières urges action against global climate change

"They may be merely possible people, but they have actual rights," says Peter Unger, speaking with Trenton Merricks and John Hawthorne about their obligation to future generations at the annual MSF convention last week.

“We must act now to save the phenom– I mean, save the planet”

The humanitarian aid organization Métaphysiciens Sans Frontières (MSF) released an official statement on Friday urging immediate governmental action to mitigate the effects of anthropogenic climate change, marking the first time that the organization has officially taken a stance on the issue.  MSF involvement in climate change represents a major departure from the typical concerns of the organization, which have historically been limited to the provisioning of metaphysicians to areas devastated by war, famine, disease and other areas where metaphysicians are in especially short supply.