Gillman, O. (2015, October 25). ‘Doomsday’ for superyacht owners as US brings in laws to slash toxic gas pollution from their multi-million dollar boats. Retrieved November 17, 2015, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3288305/Doomsday-superyacht-industry-brings-environmental-laws-slash-toxic-gas-emissions-multi-million-dollar-boats-owned-rich-famous.html

New United States regulation is forcing yacht owners to cut nitrogen oxide emissions from their vessels. It will require a device to be placed on superyachts that converts nitrogen oxide emissions into nitrogen and water. This is a victory for environmental activists who have lobbied for stricter laws on yachts for years. Owners warn that that the regulation will be doomsday for the yacht industry, claiming that their yachts aren’t large enough to hold the devices. All large yachts must have the equipment by the year 2021. The law is expected to affect such well known yacht-goers as Steven Spielberg and Bono.

This article displays some of the regulation problems environmental advocates are faced with. While the President has favored environmental protection, Congress has not. These small victories are important, but overall they won’t have a large effect on water pollution. Only a very small percentage of Americans own large yachts, a fact which likely lead to the passage of this legislation. Wider reaching laws are required in order to significantly reduce pollution.