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Donald Trump on wind energy and tourism: ‘I am an expert’

By | April 26, 2012, 4:22 AM PDT

The Donald wants to trump wind power in Scotland in favor of his luxury golf resort.

My story about billionaire tycoon Donald Trump’s fight to, er, scotch the wind energy industry in Scotland got a lot of you talking yesterday. So I thought I’d provide a short update on proceedings in Edinburgh.

A  quick review: When I wrote about this 24 hours ago, Trump was on his way to Scottish Parliament to argue against approval of a proposed offshore wind farm that he says will spoil the view for guests at the luxury seaside golf resort he’s building in Aberdeenshire. Trump has protested for months that wind turbines are so ugly that they represent “financial suicide” because tourists will avoid the country. Wind is a major component in Scotland’s ambitious target to generate all of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

The update: Trump repeated his stark warning during yesterday’s hearing, noting, “Wind turbines, made in China, are going to be the destruction - almost a total destruction - of your tourism industry,” the Daily Mail reported.

Asked what evidence he has to support his claim that tourists will stay away in droves, Trump delivered his punch line in true Donald form, as captured on BBC Radio’s The World Tonight program (go to April 25 installment and skip ahead to 6 minutes 58 seconds to listen to the account):

“Well first of all, I am the evidence. I think I’m more of an expert - ” (Laughter erupts, and Trump rises to the occasion). “You know what? I think I’m a lot more of an expert than the people that you’d like me to hire who are doing it to make a paycheck. But I am an expert in tourism. I am considered a world class expert in tourism. So when you say where is the expert and where is the evidence, I’m the evidence.”

Trump was also undeterred by protestors who had greeted him outside with balloons reading, “Wind power, not wind bags.”

The debate continues, but one thing’s for sure: This man will be polishing his brass T’s until the day he’s entombed in the Great Trump Pyramid.

Photo from Boss Tweed via Flickr.

More wind trumping on SmartPlanet:

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Mark Halper

About Mark Halper

Mark Halper is a contributing editor for SmartPlanet.

Mark Halper

Mark Halper

Contributing Editor

Mark Halper has written for TIME, Fortune, Financial Times, the UK's Independent on Sunday, Forbes, New York Times, Wired, Variety and The Guardian. He is based in Bristol, U.K.

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Mark Halper

Mark Halper

Mark has no financial holdings in the companies he writes about. He occasionally travels at the expense of companies or their press relations agencies in order to report on a company or industry event related to it; Mark will prominently disclose this information when appropriate. This relationship will have no influence on his coverage. Companies he covers do not get to review columns in advance, or select or reject topics.

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+1 Vote
+ -
"wind turbines are so ugly"
This coming from a guy with a dead ferret glued to his head? I find those wind towers to be graceful. No one calls Danish windmills ugly. This man is an embarrassment.
Posted by Mistwire
26th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
No self respecting ferret would dye its fur this way
On behalf of ferrets everywhere, I must object to this anti-ferret slight. It's obviously roadkill of some sort, and ferrets are very particular about the roads they travel on. BTW, within sight of the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, there are 5 or 6 windmills, gracefully turning in the wind. They generated so much enthusiasm that the utility company decided to open the gates to guided tours. This wind farm draws tourists from all over. Perhaps if these windmills off the coast were painted as garishly as his casinos or his comb-over or better yet, displayed that iconic TRUMP brand name, he would not be quite as upset. He should put a positive spin on the whole thing and promise his resort guests (and charge them extra for it) a room with a windmill view. It could be a big draw.
Posted by PSFTGURU@...
26th Apr 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Get over it, Donald.
Get over it Donald. When wind turbines become ubiquitous, people will get used to it and the wind units will just fade into the backgrouind. Personally, I think they are majestic. Donald, are you going to replace dirty power (i.e. fossil) with something clean? I think not. You're just betting you'll die of old age before you have to pay the piper. ;
Posted by FreeloaderFred
26th Apr 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
The only thing Trump is an "expert" in...
...is self promotion.
Posted by JohnMcGrew@...
26th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Second Opinion
I would say that Scotland should get a second opinion and not take A Donald's expert advice. There are some problems with wind generators, but ugly is not on that list. Trump as an economic expert is rather suspect as he has failed in getting his casino to make money in Atlantic City!
Posted by sboverie
26th Apr 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Windmills will kill the tourism industry?
Trump almost seems to think that hapless tourists will be killed by the whirring blades. As for windmills being ugly, has anyone seen a Trump building or resort? Hopefully, Scotland will not judge America by the inane babblings of one hyper-inflated ego.
Posted by paulw@...
26th Apr 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Windmills killing the tourism industry.
Mr. Trump joins such liberal luminaries as Ted Kennedy and Walter Cronkite in opposing windmills where they spoiled their view.
Posted by jimofil
26th Apr 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Trump Expert
I'm an expert on all things Trumph. He is a classless ******* who has bilked the taxpayers of America out of billions of dollars and now is moving on to new bilking fields!
Posted by jon6er
26th Apr 2012
-2 Votes
+ -
Windmills will kill the tourism industry
Trump is showing his 'Ugly American' side. Greedy, ego-driven, and not willing to consider others as worthy as himself. Makes my American heart hurt when I hear his nonsense spoken.
Scotland will probably get their wind towers and rightfully so. I wish them well.
Posted by robert_m_77009@...
26th Apr 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Showing his 'Ugly American' side."
Right, because no where else in the entire world are there any billionaires' that are greedy or self centered...You really should rethink that comment.

I would expect this from a child whom has a lot to learn yet, but certainly not from.....oh well, why bother...
Posted by T-Wrench
27th Apr 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Few
Few are quite so willing to show their ignorance and arrogance as Trump.
As stated before the only thing he is an expert at is self promotion.
Posted by harrim47
27th Apr 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
The point I was trying to make to robert_m_77009@...
Was the comment of "His ugly American Side". I guess it's just my opinion, but I would rather think that Trump is the exception, and not how all Americans are or act.

I don't believe in taking a whole group of people, in this case Americans, and saying that all Americans are greedy.

Do you really believe that all Germans shared Hitlers beliefs, feelings, etc.?
Posted by T-Wrench
27th Apr 2012
0 Votes
+ -
Trump as the expert?
My favorite comment: "So when you say where's the evidence. . .I'm the evidence."

Nothing illustrates Trump's laughable arrogance more than that statement.
Posted by wally_altoona
26th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Trump
This guy was a billionaire, then bankrupt, then a billionaire. He was bailed out by his gambling buddies. Now he owns a Scotch golf course. He is a fine one. What right does he have to dictate to the Scots to do what he wants. I believe the Scots shoold bin ron heem aut oon a raille.
Posted by Arctic Char
26th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
His Trump card is still hiding up his sleeve
A more sinister card awaits should he win the decision.
I believe that Donald does not perform such an act without a powerful financial reason.
The reason as revealed is clearly not that the turbines would drive tourism away from his golf course, in fact it might bring a few more!
Lets see below the surface the real reason for his costly act of arrogance so public.
If Donals bought the rights to that area of water, and more land around his golf course, he would be entitled to very large public funds for having said turbines on his coastal waters / seas. This rich mans under handed earner of the public funds is common in the UK. The government make a policy, and someone comes along and buys up something for another reason and miraculously end up earning a fotune another way.
Mr Trump is annoyed that it is not him that is putting in place these turbines and reaping the rewards from public funds.
Posted by xavierbloom
26th Apr 2012
-2 Votes
+ -
Trump's Bankrupctys
If Trump is now a billionaire, maybe it's time to go back in time and pay all of the people he cheated as a serial banktupcty artist.
Posted by skf
26th Apr 2012
+2 Votes
+ -
Trump's advocate
Obviously Trump built the resort for his own gain, but let's stop acting like Scotland did him a favor. Everyone here is so busy bashing him that they've overlooked an important fact: his resort is providing hundreds of construction jobs, and upon completion, hundreds of permanent jobs and a large boost to the local economy... and Scotland thanks him by trying to slap a wind farm in front of it? I highly doubt that this is the only location available in their entire country.

While wind farms may add character to a flat piece of land, Trump is 100% correct that they will have a negative impact on a normally unobstructed view of the ocean. I think he's exaggerating on the tourism thing, but the fact is that when people are spending "five star resort" money, they have certain expectations, and views of massive turbines surely aren't on the list.

How can anyone here seriously say that he's not a tourism expert? If owning exclusive resorts internationally doesn't qualify, then what does- completing a travel agent course??
Posted by ddferrari
Updated - 26th Apr 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Windmill Killing Field
Trump may or may not be correct on WM's killing the tourist trade (I suspect he is correct). However, what WM's are famous for, besides being economically dumb (ask the Germans & the Brits), are their ability to kill birds. When the Scottish tax payer starts going nuts over high electric bills, perhaps they can write "Silence Of The Birds".
Posted by ruellej@...
26th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Please tell me your not serious?
Do you have any idea how many birds are killed by planes, jets, helicopters, automobiles, trains, etc., etc..?

You can't be serious, can you?
Posted by T-Wrench
27th Apr 2012
+1 Vote
+ -
Never More Serious
For aircraft.... NOT MANY. If your etc. includes buildings...LOTS. What part of windmills kill birds can't you understand? Greenwashing WM's still doesn't clean the blood off.
Posted by ruellej@...
27th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
For aircraft, not many? Again
You've got to be kidding, or you know very little about aircraft and birds. Never seen a bird impacted into a fiberglass propeller then have you? I've had to repair quite a few from bird impacts..A very messy business..

My point earlier, was you're complaining about windmills and birds, but not stating anything else that kills birds just as much? You can't complain about one thing and not the others, IMHO..

I'm up in the air as far as wind farms go, though I do believe that any green energy is a step in the right direction, and if they're built where they don't take people's land away, etc., well then I don't know..

But it's better than the Haz Waste issues derived from Nuclear sites, as I'm pretty sure that stuff will kill off plenty of birds and anything else...

Now on a more personal note, If I had the $18000. to spend, I'd have my own windmill, right in the middle of my hayfield...

We have several of the homeowner styles in our county, and three of those are owned by friends of mine. I've never heard any of them say anything about their windmills killing birds.....

And what about oversees? Are you going to tell the Dutch and others to tear down some of their windmills, because they're killing off the bird population?
Posted by T-Wrench
27th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Safety is very important both Tourists and Engineers.
Floating Wind Turbine is one of the best solutions for UK and US. U.K has more install places around its shores than any other in the world. US has Atlantic Coast. As you know, they have to reduce the vibration to install Floating Wind Turbines on the sea. Because, it makes many kinds of problems! The vibration???s caused by wind, waves and external forces. New Floating Body Stabilizer for Floating Wind Turbines has been created in South Korea. The Floating Body Stabilizers generate drag force immediately when Floating Wind Turbines are being rolled and pitched on the water. Recently, this Floating Body Stabilizer???s using to reduce the Vibration of Floating Solar Panels in South Korea. You can see New Floating Body Stabilizer videos in YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moO--q5B92k, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nA_xFp5ktbU&feature=youtu.be. Anyways, very interesting. Thanks.
Posted by MinwooKim
28th Apr 2012
-1 Votes
+ -
Air Head
If this guy has any brains, he would keep his loud mouth shut. He looses all credibility by opening his mouth and talking trash. His brain power is no more than a mouse's. He can only think of his own greed and how to gyp people out of money and make himself look very intelligent. I am sure his mother must be cursing herself daily for bringing this idiot into this world and occupying space!
Posted by usdoc1
30th Jul
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