Donal Trump two-faced on climate disruption

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2016/05/23/3780796/trump-ireland-sea-wall-climate-change/

Donald Trump Wants To Build Another Wall But Never Talks About It. Here’s Why.
by Natasha Geiling May 23, 2016

As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump has taken a pretty hard line on climate change. He has said that he is “not a great believer in man-made climate change,” has called it a “total, very expensive hoax,” and has blamed the Chinese for creating the concept “to make U.S. manufacturing noncompetitive.” He has also threatened to renegotiate the Paris climate deal, largely seen as the world’s best chance of avoiding the worst impacts of climate change.

As a businessman, however, Trump seems to take a different approach to climate change, privately preparing to protect his investments against climate-related problems like sea level rise and coastal erosion. According to permit applications reviewed by Politico, Trump has applied to build a wall to prevent coastal erosion at his Trump International Golf Links seaside golf resort in Ireland — and has explicitly cited risks posed by climate change in his application.

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As part of the permit application submitted to Clare County, Trump International Golf Links Ireland also submitted an environmental impact statement prepared by an Irish environmental consulting firm. The impact statement cites a study prepared by the Irish government that assumes a steady rate of coastal erosion through 2050. The impact statement notes, however, that that study fails to account for the change in coastal erosion rates driven by climate change.

“If the predictions of an increase in sea level rise as a result of global warming prove correct, however, it is likely that there will be a corresponding increase in coastal erosion rates not just in Doughmore Bay but around much of the coastline of Ireland. In our view, it could reasonably be expected that the rate of sea level rise might become twice of that presently occurring,” the application states. “As a result, we would expect the rate of dune recession to increase.”

The impact statement also cites the issue of more frequent, severe storms driven by climate change, which could accelerate the rate of coastal erosion.

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It's not uncommon for companies to build climate change into their business plans — Cynthia McHale, director of the insurance program at Ceres, told Politico that it's "best practice" for companies to do so. Businesses that are especially dependent on climate, such as food supply companies, have been building climate into their business strategies for years. Even big oil companies included sea level rise in their calculations for building offshore platforms.

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