Seattle natives were less than thrilled after someone took to Reddit to share pictures of a massive yacht belonging to a former defense contractor.
In a post on the r/Seattle subreddit, a user pointed out the massive yacht Liva O docked in Westlake.
A commenter was quick to point out the yacht belongs to billionaire Stephen Orenstein, whose Supreme Foodservice company pleaded guilty to defrauding the U.S. government by overcharging for supplies for troops in Afghanistan. They paid $288.36 million as a result of the case, an amount that included the maximum possible fine.
Superyachts like this one can have a profoundly negative impact on the environment. Even though there aren't that many, their huge engines are inefficient and often use diesel fuel, which produces a lot of planet-warming carbon dioxide, among other things.
On top of that, most superyachts spend very little of their time actually traveling and even less of their time moving at speed. They typically serve as essentially floating hotels, relying on diesel generators that produce even more pollution than running the engine does.
According to CleanTechnica, the 300 largest superyachts are responsible for 285,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually on their own. That's not even taking into account smaller luxury vessels that aren't in the top 300, but still classify as superyachts.
While some advancements have been made in clean energy to power yachts, like Bill Gates' hydrogen-powered boat, mega-rich people like Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos have come under fire for their purchases of the massive vessels.
For their part, commenters were less than thrilled seeing Orenstein's boat in the harbor.
"It's nice to have a symbol of why the planet is constantly on fire," one said.
"And here I am sorting my recycling and trying not to use straws or shopping bags," said another.
"Em…tax the rich?" said a third.
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