Billionaire ignites firestorm after flaunting massive yacht near public beach: 'Big enough to hold his ego'

The owner of the Dallas Cowboys NFL franchise also owns an excessively large boat, and one Redditor recently posted about it on "r/yachtporn."

The ship, dubbed Bravo Eugenia and built by specialist manufacturer Oceanco, is about 360 feet long, has 30 crewmembers, and was spotted near Harbour Island in the Bahamas. The owner, Jerry Jones, has an estimated net worth of $17.7 billion, thanks in part to significant oil investments.

Luxury travel by the billionaire class has a massive impact on the environment. — Photo Credit: Reddit

Sights like these are relatively common in the Bahamas. Yachts available for rental have been seen there, while some other sports team owners have brought both of their yachts to the area. Meanwhile, Bahamians are working hard on securing ocean conservation and protecting rare local wildlife.

Luxury travel by the billionaire class has a massive impact on the environment. One study by Oxfam estimated that the annual emissions of one superyacht are equivalent to the average person's emissions spanning 860 years. Other forms of luxury travel, such as private jets, produce even more pollution.

Reducing atmospheric pollution is a top priority, as it is melting sea ice and subsequently raising sea levels, exacerbating destructive weather patterns, and both warming and acidifying oceans. Collectively, these issues wreak havoc and have severe economic costs.

The rich are disproportionately contributing to these problems, but luckily, there is some sign of hope. Excessive pollution from luxury travel is being curbed by new legislation in some jurisdictions. Spain has aimed to ban short-haul domestic flights that could be equally serviced by train, for example. This follows the precedent set by France just a few years earlier. The city of Naples has banned large yachts from docking there.