The Minerals Council of Australia has launched its ‘Little Black Rock’ advertising campaign to plug the benefits of the coal industry.

The emotive ode to coal includes a major advertising campaign acroos newspapers, TV and radio, hailing the mineral’s ability to “create light and jobs”.

It also promises that new technology is about to slash coal carbon emissions.

The ad explains the “endless possibilities” of coal and the industry that the MCA says provides $40bn a year to the Australian economy.

The ad asks; “Isn’t it amazing what this little black rock can do?”

The Minerals Council has denied claims that the campaign is a return of fire against environmentalists who fight to halt huge new mines.

“It’s fair to say there are a few misconceptions out there the industry wants to tackle,” a spokesperson told reporters on the weekend.

“This is aimed at the general public but we obviously want the politicians to take notice of it.”

The campaign focuses on low-emission coal-fired power plants and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. It says these are “now a reality” that will let coal “reduce its emissions by up to 40 per cent”.

But that could be some serious blue-sky thinking, given that there is just one CCS project aimed at coal emissions planned in Australia, and even it is not expected to arrive until the 2020s.

In fact, if the industry is looking to move ahead on the back of CCS advances, they may want to tell the federal government, which recently cut half a billion dollars from research into CCS. 

Environmentalists are incensed.

“This is a ludicrous ad,” Kelly O’Shanassy, chief executive of the Australian Conservation Foundation, told reporters.

“I’m glad that the Minerals Council has woken up to the 18th century potential of coal. I can’t wait until they see the 21st century potential of renewable energy.

“Coal is a dangerous little black rock. Every climate scientist and almost every politician in the world knows that coal is very polluting and very dangerous.

“The only people who don’t get that are the Minerals Council and our government.”

“This desperate ad is a figment of the Mineral Council’s imagination and cannot stand up to the reality of renewables cutting into the market with very little support,” said Blair Palese, of climate campaign group 350.org.

“People will see through this but sadly there is no transition plan to renewables in Australia.”