Has Donald Trump dug himself into a bunker with his climate change views? | Tim Dowling

The Republican candidate has been dismissive of global warming. But when it comes to his golf course in Ireland, he seems to be taking the threat seriously

A golf-and-hotel complex on the west coast of Ireland has applied to construct extensive dune erosion defences to mitigate the effects of erosion "due to sea level rise and increased Atlantic storminess". An investigation by the US news website Politico found that the environmental impact statement included with the application specifically uses climate change to justify the defence scheme. "If the predictions of an increase in sea level rise as a result of global warming prove correct " it is likely that there will be a corresponding increase in coastal erosion rates," it says.

Why is this interesting? Because the resort in question is the Trump International Golf Links and Hotel. The golf course, for as long as it remains above water, is owned by a US presidential candidate, who has dismissed global warming as a "total hoax". He's also called it "bullshit" and a con, and although he now claims it was a joke he once tweeted that global warming was invented by the Chinese to make US manufacturing less competitive.

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