Donald Trump has registered his disbelief in global warming by saying he's "not a big believer in man-made climate change."
However, according to
Politico, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee is trying to build a sea wall to protect one of his golf course from "global warming and its effects."
Politico reviewed Trump's permit application to build the wall to prevent erosion at his Trump International Golf Links & Hotel Ireland, in County Clare, likely due to rising sea levels and more frequent storms.
The application states that, "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."
After one storm, Politico reports, the golf course lost as much as 8 meters of frontage off the course. Trump's plan includes distributing 200,000 tons of rock along two miles of beach.
The billionaire developer's company has distributed a brochure to the residents near the golf course about the "need for coastal protection." Politico notes it "predicted sea level rise and more frequent storm events will increase the rate of erosion throughout the 21st century."
Trump has made numerous comments in the past rejecting reports about climate science, including in December 2013, when he tweeted:
Trump told a
Washington Post reporter he thinks "the biggest form of climate change we should worry about is nuclear weapons."
Former South Carolina Rep. Bob Inglis is a Republican advocate for conservative solutions to climate change. He told Politico "Donald Trump is working to ensure his at-risk properties and his company is trying to figure out how to deal with sea level rise. Meanwhile, he's saying things to audiences that he must know are not true."
Jerry Taylor, president of the libertarian think tank Niskanen Center, told
The New York Times Hillary Clinton could use Trump's statements on climate change against him, adding that "climate contributes significantly to the poor branding of the Republican Party."