Back in 2006 (which feels like ages ago now), locals in Aberdeenshire, Scotland found themselves rather upset after learning that then real estate “mogul” Donald Trump had purchased a stretch of coastal land in the Scotland council area, with plans to construct an 18-hole golf course on his newly purchased real estate. People who lived in the area were quick to note their opposition to the new construction on such beautiful, historic land.
However, according to a report from Business Insider, Donald unsurprisingly marched forward with his plans to build a massive golf course on the Scottish land he purchased, with a bland promise to preserve the highly sensitive ecosystem and coastal sand dunes that made the area so special during his construction.
But, as is customary with pretty much any “promise” to hail from the mouth of Donald Trump — he didn’t keep his word. Even a little — as new before and after satellite images show that the sand dunes that he promised to protect have been absolutely destroyed by his development over the years.
“We will stabilize the dunes,” Donald Trump pledged at the time. “They will be there forever. This will be environmentally better after it is built than it is before.”
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But, lo and behold, recently released satellite images from technology firm Maxar have proven that Trump’s golf course development absolutely destroyed the Foveran Links sand dunes between March 2010 and April 2021.
Business Insider was able to obtain the photos that show Donald Trump’s 18-hole golf course built directly overtop of the marshes, dune grassland, and dune slacks — which effectively demolished what the conservation agency NatureScot called “a very high-quality example of a sand dune system characteristic of north east Scotland, and was of exceptional importance for the wide variety of coastal landforms and processes.”
Environmental experts explained that Trump’s construction prevented the dunes from swaying back in forth in the wind as they’re supposed to.
Policy and communications director at LSE’s Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Bob Ward, said, “The argument the Trump International Golf Links used was that they’d protected them by stabilizing them. But essentially what they’ve done is they’ve just killed it as a natural environment.”
You can read the full report and see the before and after images from Business Insider here.
Featured image via screen capture
