By Jenni Ryall From Mashable

SYDNEY — Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared “coal is good for humanity” at the opening of a mine in Queensland on Monday.

Standing at the site of the Caval Ridge coal mine, in central Queensland, Abbott said the mine would bring $30 million to the local economy.

“Let’s have no demonization of coal,” Abbott told the media. “Coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity, coal is an essential part of our economic future, here in Australia, and right around the world.”

The mine, a joint venture by BHP and Mitsubishi, will employ 500 fly-in, fly-out workers and producing 5.5 million tons of coal annually.

“This is a sign of hope and confidence in the future of the coal industry — it’s a great industry, we’ve had a great partnership with Japan in the coal industry,” Abbott said. Coal is essential for the prosperity of the world. Energy is what sustains our prosperity, and coal is the world’s principal energy source and it will be for many decades to come.”

Abbott’s promotion of the local coal industry and praise of Japan could be seen as a direct dig at China, the second largest coal market, after the country announced it would impose harsh new tariffs on coal imports starting on Oct. 15.

The implementation of the 6% tariff on soft coal by China falls just a month before the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement is expected to be signed at the G20 Summit in Brisbane in November, causing a headache for Abbott and Australia producers.

“This is the kind of hiccup in our ­biggest and most important trading relationship that we just don’t want or need,” Abbott said at a press conference last week. “We’ll work with the Chinese to get to the bottom of what seems to have happened.”

Burning coal for energy is also a major contributor of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which is a cause of global warming. The U.S. has been moving away from coal and toward cleaner burning natural gas and renewable energy, while Australia places a greater emphasis on the more carbon intensive fuel.

In 2014, the amount of carbon dioxide, the main long-lived greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere, hit its highest level in all of human history.

Nic Clyde, Senior Climate Campaigner with Greenpeace, told Mashable the comments were “extraordinary and “out of touch” with global steps.

“ These are comments that may have been forgiven in the ’70s, before the global scientific community had learned about impact of coal on the planet These are comments that may have been forgiven in the ’70s, before the global scientific community had learned about impact of coal on the planet,” Clyde said. “We now know we have an urgent need to reduce emissions.”

“The comments are completely out of touch with the global scientific community and Australians,” he said. “There is massive support in Australia for renewable energy.”

Clyde said remarks such as the ones made by Abbott are sending the wrong impression of Australia, and what the Australian public believes, to the rest of the world.

“The global media is looking at Australia as the Saudi Arabia of carbon emissions,” Clyde said. “We are outlaws, we are not considered a good global citizen at all in this space and this has to change. The prime minister has become confused with what society needs. We need energy for electricity, but high-carbon energy is ruining our environment. We instead need renewable energy such as wind and solar.”

In what many consider a poor move, Abbott didn’t attend the United Nations Climate Summit in September, where more than 120 world leaders gathered to discuss the issue of climate change. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop attended on behalf of Australia.

At the time, Connie Hedegaard, the European Union’s Commissioner for Climate Action, told ABC that Australians should “judge” what it means.

“Of course the world will interpret who is showing up and who will not be showing up,” she said. “So that’s for your prime minister and your government to decide what kind of profile do they want to have in this.”

Clyde believes the no-show was due to Abbott’s underlying view point on climate change, which his comments at the mine “underscore.”

“This is Abbott’s world view,” he said. “This is the real Tony Abbott.”

IMAGE: Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abetalk during a tour of the Rio Tinto iron ore mine in the Pilbara, West Australia, Wednesday, July 9, 2014. IMAGE: ASSOCIATED PRESS/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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