During a visit to Baltimore, President Biden announces the allocation of $3 billion to develop environmentally friendly equipment and infrastructure in US ports

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is committing nearly $3 billion to improve green equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including Baltimore, where a bridge collapse in March killed six construction workers and disrupted shipping routes on the East Coast for months.

President Joe Biden announced the federal funding Tuesday during a visit to the city’s main port, saying the funds will improve and electrify port infrastructure at 55 facilities across the country, support an estimated 40,000 union jobs, reduce pollution and tackle climate crisis. The president’s visit, which came a week before Election Day, was intended to highlight efforts by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to promote clean energy while protecting and creating jobs.

“Ports are the backbone of America’s supply chain,” Biden said in a speech at the Dundalk Marine Terminal, near the site of the March 26 bridge collapse that shut down commercial shipping for nearly three months. A small blue and white sign near the site. reminded passersby, “The project is funded by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act,” a 2022 law approved only by Democratic votes.

While the grant announcement appeared timed to help Harris’ presidential campaign, Biden appeared to ignore those concerns as he followed Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore to an outdoor podium surrounded by metal shipping containers. “I think he might be the best governor in the country,” Biden said of Moore, eschewing the opportunity to praise Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz.

Biden used his speech to repeatedly criticize former President Donald Trump, and he indirectly criticized the controversy Trump faced after appearing at a weekend rally in New York where he made racist comments about Puerto Rico. Biden emphasized that federal funding for ports includes Puerto Rico. At one point he even reminded himself with a laugh, “Don’t go, Joe. Slower”.

The Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest on the East Coast, is a major hub for the import and export of automobiles and farm equipment. More than 20,000 workers support port operations, including longshoremen and truckers unions.

The Port of Baltimore and other ports across the country “keep goods moving — keep the economy strong,” Biden said. “They employ over 100,000 union workers, from porters to porters. But for too long they have run on fossil fuels and aging infrastructure, putting workers at risk and exposing nearby communities to dangerous pollution.

The new funding will help ports and communities across the country reduce operating costs and lower consumer prices, “while reducing carbon pollution and supporting approximately 40,000 new, good-paying jobs to support clean energy production across America,” Biden said.

“This is about environmental justice,” he added, citing studies showing higher rates of childhood asthma, cancer, lung and heart disease among residents living near US ports.

The grants announced Tuesday include $147 million for the Maryland Port Authority to purchase and install cargo and truck handling equipment to transform the port into a net-zero greenhouse gas facility.

The Maryland port is among 55 ports in 27 states and territories that will receive nearly $3 billion through the Clean Ports Program, administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Ports receiving money include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Port Authority of Detroit-Wayne County, the ports of Savannah and Braunschweig, Georgia, as well as Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Oakland, California.

The grants are funded by Biden’s landmark 2022 climate law, the largest clean energy investment in US history.

Protecting people and the environment “doesn’t come at the expense of a growing economy,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said before Biden’s visit, a veiled rebuke to Trump and other Republicans who have complained that tough environmental regulations are hurting the economy. “In reality, healthy communities and a strong economy go hand in hand,” Regan said.

The grant announcements, which follow $31 million in federal funds to rebuild part of Baltimore’s Dundalk Marine Terminal, come a week after the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the deadly bridge collapse agreed to pay more than 102 millions of dollars in cleanup to settle a lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice.

The deal does not cover any damages for rebuilding the bridge, a project that could cost about $2 billion. The state of Maryland has filed its own lawsuit seeking damages for those damages, among others.

Funding for the Clean Ports program will cut more than 3 million metric tons of planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to the energy use of nearly 400,000 homes for one year, Regan said. It would also cut 12,000 short tons of nitrogen oxides and other harmful pollutants, he said.

John Podesta, the White House’s senior adviser on international climate policy, said the grants would help fulfill Biden and Harris’ promise to “rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and address the climate crisis … and lift up communities that have borne the brunt of pollution.” .”

In February, the EPA announced two separate funding opportunities for U.S. ports: a competition for direct funding for zero-emission equipment and infrastructure and a separate competition for climate change and air quality programs. More than $8 billion in inquiries were received from applicants across the country.

California Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla welcomed the announcement of the grant, which includes more than $1 billion for seven California ports. The Port of Los Angeles will receive $411 million, the largest award in the nation.

“California’s ports move the goods that fuel our economy,” Padilla said Tuesday, noting that the state’s ports handle about 40 percent of all containerized imports and 30 percent of U.S. exports. The EPA grants will help decarbonize the U.S. supply chain to “produce cleaner air in neighboring communities and meet our climate goals while creating green jobs,” Padilla said.