If your yacht has a backup yacht just for gym gear, you might've maxed out the scale of excess.
An Instagram video posted by Only In Boston (@onlyinbos) pans across the city's North End waterfront to reveal a 285-foot superyacht flanked by a 215-foot "support yacht."
The smaller vessel carries the billionaire owner's personal submarine, helicopter, motorcycles, jet skis, and even a Peloton bike.
"When you're a billionaire, you get to park your 285-foot superyacht in the North End along with your 215-foot superyacht next to it which is just dedicated to carrying your jet skis, motorcycles, Peloton bikes, personal submarine, and helicopter," said the caption.
The display of wealth struck a nerve, especially amid the backdrop of rising sea levels and worsening extreme weather events, which are disproportionately impacting the very communities that would never come close to affording a private floating mansion.
Superyachts are notoriously carbon-intensive. A 2021 study found that the average superyacht emits around 7,000 tons of carbon pollution per year, which is about 1,500 times more than the average person.
Many of these vessels also dump wastewater directly into the ocean and rely on massive diesel engines to power everything from helipads to infinity pools.
While working families are urged to take shorter showers, switch to paper straws, or ditch their gas stoves, a tiny class of ultra-wealthy individuals are operating floating palaces that burn more fuel in a day than most people do in a year.
"This is obscene," commented one viewer.
"Gross inequality," stated another.
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This isn't the first time luxury pollution has sparked backlash. From Taylor Swift's private-jet controversy to growing calls for taxes on "luxury pollution," public pressure is mounting on policymakers to hold high-impact lifestyles accountable.
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Advocates have proposed legislation to tax superyachts, private jets, and other outsized sources of carbon, funneling that money into climate resilience for front-line communities.
These displays of wealth don't have to only elicit anger, though. People can also channel their frustration into systemic change, like supporting climate policies, voting for green infrastructure investments, and demanding that wealthier individuals and corporations pay their fair share in the fight for a livable planet.
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