When Donald Trump first dreamt about building his $1.6 billion golf complex off the beautiful coast of Scotland, offshore wind farms weren’t part of his plan. But now it looks like that could be a reality after a $243 million joint venture was announced to construct the European Offshore Wind Deployment Center. Trump issued a statement against the plans, saying he’d never have invested his own $60 million in the project had he known this would be the outcome, reports the Guardian. According to Bloomberg, he also wrote in a recent email, “I am very disappointed that Scotland may allow the development of a wind power plant directly off Aberdeen’s beautiful coastline.” Trump isn’t the first person upset over wind farms. Anti-wind power groups have argued that turbines may cause health problems, and Germany is looking into soundproofing underwater construction sites to protect whales from the noise. David Rodger, spokesman for the Scotland wind farm project told the Guardian: “We have been in regular contact with the Trump organisation and acknowledge the concern raised.” Initially rejected by county officials, Trump appealed to authorities and even called himself an “environmentalist”. (The Independent reports that the public gallery reacted so loudly to this claim that inquiry chairman James McCulloch had to demand silence.) Last year, Donald Trump reportedly challenged global warming, declaring to a country club crowd, “With the coldest winter ever recorded, with snow setting record levels up and down the coast, the Nobel committee should take the Nobel Prize back from Al Gore.” Also last year, The Washington Post found that Trump’s employees chopped down hundreds of trees at the Trump National Golf Club in Washington D.C. While Trump is concerned about his view being ruined, some claim he has done the same thing with his golf course in D.C. Mark Haynes, an Arlington energy consultant, said, “They replaced the trees with a huge flagpole with the American flag flying up there. Which struck me as sad. It’s kind of in-your-face now.” Heather Taylor-Miesle, the director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Action Fund, told The Washington Post, “He likes to pretend he’s an environmentalist because of the landscaping on his golf courses, but at the end of the day, it seems he’s the only one that actually believes that.” Trump wants a clear view of the sea, but what are his thoughts on an underwater golf course? Trump sounds off on Charlie Sheen.
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on August 12, 2011. Filed under News.
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Posted by
on August 12, 2011. Filed under