Review: Donald Trump’s dangerous games with the environment

By agreenerlifeagreenerworld on July 28, 2015 • ( 4 Comments )

Anthony Baxter interviews Donald Trump.

By Anders Lorenzen

The American business tycoon Donald Trump, who recently announced that he would run for US President in 2016, is well known for his climate denying and wind turbine hating outbursts and has again landed in the spotlight, this time in the documentary A Dangerous Game.

In 2012, Donald Trump constructed a controversial luxury golf resort in Aberdeenshire on the east coast of Scotland, stating that it would; be the best in the world, inject millions into the Scottish economy and generate thousands of local jobs. But when the Scottish government gave permission to a nearby offshore wind farm, Mr Trump sued them on the basis that wind turbines would destroy the environment. He lost.

In the new film A Dangerous Game, director Anthony Baxter examines the corruption and environmental impact surrounding the construction of Trump’s Scottish golf course as well as one he is planning in Croatia. It highlights Trump’s hypocrisy in attacking wind farms for being destructive to the environment when his golf resorts have a far worse impact. Trump’s Scottish resort saw sand dunes being removed to make way for the resort with thriving regional wildlife disappearing.

It also shows Trump flexing his political muscle, ensuring that Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond ignored robust environmental impact assessments to pave the way for the luxury resort.

The film follows Baxter’s 2011 film You’ve Been Trumped, which looked at the original opposition to the construction of the golf resort. Its also explores Trump’s devastating dealings in the city of Dubrovnik in Croatia, an UNESCO world heritage site, where a resort proposed by Trump is backed by the local Mayor despite the fact that in a recent referendum 85% locals voted against it. The private resort would be placed on the top of dry rocky mountains above the city’s historical defences, overlooking the Mediterranean sea. Local people, including many small scale farmers, are increasingly worried that their water sources will be under unsustainable pressure from the resort, which will requires an enormous amount of water due to the dry Mediterranean climate.

The film also explored the huge environmental impacts of private golf resorts for the ultra rich, in desert areas ranging from Las Vegas in the Nevada desert to the Dubai desert, where millions of cubic litres of water are transported for irrigation and to to create artificial lakes. Large amounts of chemical pesticide are also being used to keep the resorts looking green, with devastating impacts on the local biodiversity.

Now that local protest has put a stop to Trump’s resort plans in Scotland, the billionaire has set his sight on land he has bought in Ireland for another luxury resort. The cash strapped Irish government has welcomed Trump’s investments as a kickstart to the Irish economy.

Donald Trump is currently the Republican front-runner for the 2016 US presidential election.

You can find out more about the film here and how to watch it.