A Reddit user in the r/CatalinaCrew community recently spotted an obscenely large yacht docked in Monaco and shared some footage of the ship. (Click here to watch the video if the embed does not appear.)
The clip shows the Valor, a 260-foot yacht capable of sailing at 15 knots. It has accommodation for 14 guests and amenities such as an infinity pool, helipad, and two jacuzzis. The design was made explicitly to capitalize on Arctic sea routes opening due to increasing global temperatures.
A 5.34 megawatt-hour battery bank on the Valor is charged by a solar array, which allows it to run up to 48 hours without burning any fuel. According to Dutch manufacturer Feadship, it may be able to run on hydrotreated vegetable oil biofuel, which could cut pollution by 90% compared to traditional diesel.
In the grand scheme of yachts, these measures are relatively green, but the ship is part of a wider problem with luxury travel. For example, one study suggested that the yachts owned by the owners of Walmart produce as much pollution annually as 1,714 Walmart staff.
While holding the world's billionaires accountable for their wastefulness and ecological impact will require significant government overhauls, there's a lot that can be done at an individual level to reduce pollution.
Opting for low-impact travel options such as rail can help lower the frequency and decrease the intensity of floods, droughts, heat waves, and other destructive weather events. The increase in these disasters has incurred extensive housing, agricultural, and ecological costs.
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Reddit commenters were largely disgusted by the Valor as a tacky display of wealth.
"Nothing about that says 'valor.' If anything it should be named 'extreme greed,'" one community member said.
"Don't ask them to pay tax, they'll act like you're stealing from them," another replied, speaking of the Valor's owner.
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