Biden announces $3 billion to reduce carbon emissions at U.S. ports

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

President Joe Biden announced the federal funding Tuesday during a visit to that city’s main port, saying the money will improve and electrify port infrastructure at 55 sites nationwide while supporting an estimated 40,000 union jobs, reducing pollution and combating the climate crisis. The presidential visit, 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 linchpin to America’s supply chain,’’ Biden said in a speech at Dundalk Marine Terminal, near the site of the March 26 bridge collapse that closed commercial shipping traffic for nearly three months.

Biden used his speech to repeatedly criticize former President Donald Trump, and he took an indirect swipe at a controversy Trump is facing after appearing at a weekend rally in New York where racist comments were made about Puerto Rico. Biden emphasized that federal funding for ports includes Puerto Rico.

Ports across the country “keep goods moving — keep the economy strong,″ Biden said. “And they employ over 100,000 union workers, from Teamsters to longshoremen. But for too long, they’ve 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 cut operating costs and keep consumer prices down, “while slashing carbon pollution and supporting an estimated 40,000 new, good-paying jobs to support clean-energy manufacturing all across America,’’ Biden said.

“This is about environmental justice,’’ he added, citing studies that show higher childhood asthma, cancer, and lung and heart disease in residents who live near U.S. ports.

Philadelphia and the Maryland port are among 55 ports across 27 states and territories that will receive nearly $3 billion through the Clean Ports Program administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Other ports receiving money include the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the Detroit-Wayne County Port Authority; the ports of Savannah and Brunswick, Ga.; as well as Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif.

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

Protecting people and the environment “doesn’t come at the expense of a booming economy,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said before Biden’s visit, offering an implicit rebuke to Trump and other Republicans who have complained that strict environmental regulations hinder the economy. “In fact, healthy communities and a strong economy go hand in hand,” Regan said.

The grant announcements come a week after the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the deadly bridge collapse agreed to pay more than $102 million in cleanup costs to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice Department.

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

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