The Super Bowl, played earlier this month, brought some of the biggest names in sports and entertainment to partake in all of the festivities the game has to offer. It also brought together an exclusive club — NFL owners who own environmentally damaging superyachts.
Forbes reported on the "NFL Team Owners Superyacht Club," which is an exclusive group, even by billionaire standards. The league has 32 teams, one of which — the Green Bay Packers — is owned by a public, nonprofit organization. Of the other 31, 30 are owned by billionaires, according to Pro Football Network.
But fewer than 10 have superyachts, which are defined as the most luxurious of yachts, typically between 80 and 600 feet long. Depending on the features, these beasts can cost hundreds of millions of dollars upfront and millions more annually to operate and maintain.
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As Forbes noted, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan has a new 400-foot superyacht called "Kismet." Chartering the ship for one week costs more than $3 million.
The true cost, however, is paid by all of us.
Superyachts are, per capita, one of the worst polluters on the planet. Bloomberg pointed out that the world's top 300 superyachts emit a total of 285,000 tons of carbon dioxide each year. That's an average of 950 tons of carbon. Meanwhile, the average person globally emits about four tons each year.
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"The bulk of these emissions happen whether or not a yacht actually travels anywhere," University of Southampton professor Chris Armstrong wrote in a Guardian opinion piece. "Simply owning one — or indeed building one — is an act of enormous climate vandalism."
Superyachts are just one glaring example of how much the world's wealthiest people contribute to climate change. Research from the International Energy Agency found that the top 1% of emitters — oftentimes those with enough money to spend on things like yachts and private jets — produce 1,000 times more carbon dioxide than the bottom 1%.
Some companies are trying to target the ultrarich with more environmentally friendly luxury items. Silent-Yachts, for example, offers solar-powered yachts, including a 120-foot superyacht.
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