Biden announced $3 billion in funding to electrify US ports and cut carbon emissions
The Biden administration is giving nearly $3 billion to boost climate-friendly equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including Baltimore, where the deadly disaster occurred. bridge collapse killed six construction workers in March and disrupted East Coast shipping routes for months.
President Joe Biden is expected to visit the city’s main port on Tuesday to announce grants that officials say will improve and electrify port infrastructure at 55 locations nationwide. country, while supporting about 40,000 union jobs, reducing pollution and fighting the climate crisis. The president’s visit, a week before Election Day, is intended to highlight efforts by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to promote clean energy while protecting and creating good-paying union jobs.
The Port of Baltimore, one of the busiest ports on the East Coast, is a major hub for the import and export of automobiles and agricultural equipment. More than 20,000 workers support port operations daily, including unionized stevedores and truck drivers.
The grants announced Tuesday include $147 million to the Maryland Port Authority. The fund will support more than 2,000 jobs by enabling the purchase and installation of cargo handling equipment and trucks to transform the port into a net-zero greenhouse gas facility.
The Port of Maryland is among 55 ports across 27 states and territories that will receive nearly $3 billion through the program. Clean port program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Receiving ports include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority, and the Ports of Savannah BrunswickGeorgia, as well as Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Oakland, California.
The grants are funded by Biden’s Landmark climate law approved in 2022, the largest investment in clean energy in U.S. history.
During a White House call with reporters Monday, officials said the funding will also promote environmental justice by reducing air pollution from diesel from U.S. ports.
“Our ports are the backbone of our economy – vital hubs that support our supply chains, drive trade, create jobs and connect it all,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. we”. “But we cannot ignore the challenges facing communities living and working near these ports. Often, these communities face severe air quality challenges due to diesel pollution from trucks, ships and other port machinery.”
Regan spoke in an implicit rebuke of former President Donald Trump and other Republicans who have complained that strict environmental regulations hinder the economy. “In reality, healthy communities and a strong economy go hand in hand,” Regan said.
The funding announcements, which follow $31 million in federal funds to rehabilitate part of Baltimore’s Dundalk Marine Terminal, come a week after the cargo ship’s owner and manager caused the collapse. Begging death to agree must pay more than $102 million in cleanup costs to resolve a lawsuit brought by the United States Department of Justice.
The settlement does not include any damages for rebuilding the bridge, a project that could cost nearly $2 billion. The state of Maryland filed its own claim seeking those damages, among others.
Funding the Clean Port program would cut planet-warming carbon dioxide emissions by more than 3 million tons, equivalent to the energy use of nearly 400,000 homes in a year, Regan said. It will also cut nitrogen oxides and other harmful pollutants by 12,000 tons, he said.
John Podesta, senior adviser to the president for international climate policy, said the grants will help fulfill Biden and Harris’s promise to “rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and address solve the climate crisis… while supporting communities that are bearing the brunt of pollution. ”
In February, EPA announced two separate funding opportunities for U.S. ports, a direct funding competition for zero-emissions equipment and infrastructure and a separate competition for programs climate change and air quality. More than $8 billion in requests from applicants across the country have been received.
Vernice Miller-Travis, a longtime environmental justice advocate, praised the EPA grants, which came after years of complaints from environmental and public health leaders that pollution harmful substances from the nation’s ports are frequently overlooked.
“What an amazing moment,” she said. “55 projects, nearly 3 billion USD in funding. This is real money. And we know when you see these types of investments, you can really make a difference in local conditions and activities and in people’s lives.”
