Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Biden announces $3B to reduce carbon emissions at US ports, 'the linchpin to America’s supply chain'

MATTHEW DALY
Updated Tue, October 29, 2024

President Joe Biden speaks during an event about his Investing in America agenda, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Joe Biden speaks during an event about his Investing in America agenda, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Joe Biden speaks during an event about his Investing in America agenda, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Joe Biden walks into BMORE LICKS, a homemade ice cream business in Baltimore, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, after speaking the Port of Baltimore. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)ASSOCIATED PRESS

FILE - The cargo ship Dali is stuck under part of the structure of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after the ship hit the bridge, Tuesday, March 26, 2024, as seen from Pasadena, Md. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott speaks, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)ASSOCIATED PRESS

Gov. Wes Moore, D-Md., speaks before President Joe Biden arrives to speak at the Port of Baltimore in Baltimore, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)ASSOCIATED PRESS

President Joe Biden speaks during an event about his Investing in America agenda, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024, at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Daniel Kucin Jr.)ASSOCIATED PRESS


WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is awarding nearly $3 billion to boost climate-friendly equipment and infrastructure at ports across the country, including 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 the 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. A small blue and white sign near the site reminded passersby, “Project funded by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act,'' the 2022 law approved with only Democratic votes.

While the grant announcement appeared timed to help Harris' campaign for president, Biden seemingly ignored those concerns as he followed Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore to the outdoor podium, flanked by metal ship containers. “I think he may be the best governor in the country,” Biden said of Moore, bypassing a chance to praise Harris’ running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

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. At one point, he even reminded himself with a laugh, “Don’t get going, Joe. Slow up.”

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

The Baltimore port and others 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.

Grants announced Tuesday include $147 million for the Maryland Port Administration to buy and install cargo-handling equipment and trucks to transition the port into a zero-greenhouse-gas-emission facility.

The Maryland port is 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. 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, Georgia, 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.

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, which follow $31 million in federal funds to rehabilitate a section 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 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.

John Podesta, senior White House adviser for international climate policy, said the grants will help fulfill a promise by Biden and Harris to “rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and tackle the climate crisis ... and uplift the communities who’ve borne the brunt of pollution."

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

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



“California’s ports move the goods that power our economy," Padilla said Tuesday, noting that state ports process about 40% of all containerized imports and 30% 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.

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Associated Press writers Will Weissert in Washington and Ayanna Alexander in Baltimore contributed to this story.

Top US container ports awarded $1.6B to electrify

John Gallagher
Tue, October 29, 2024 

The Port of Los Angeles received $412 million for zero-emission equipment. (Photo: Port of Los Angeles)

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has released $3 billion in funding aimed at cutting pollution at U.S. ports, with roughly half of that going to electrify some of the country’s largest container operations.

Of the 55 grant applicants across 27 states that were awarded money from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program, the top five winners – the ports of Los Angeles, New York/New Jersey, Virginia, Baltimore and Oakland, California – received $1.6 billion.


Biden speaking at the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday. Credit: The White House

Much of that funding will go toward electric drayage trucks and cargo-handling equipment, along with charging infrastructure and battery energy storage systems.

“The new $3 billion in funding will strengthen supply chains, make American businesses more competitive, and keep consumer prices down while slashing carbon pollution and supporting an estimated 40,000 good paying jobs at ports across America,” said President Joe Biden, speaking at the Port of Baltimore on Tuesday.

The Maryland Port Authority, which oversees the port, will receive $146 million from the program, which is funded by appropriations provided by the Inflation Reduction Act.

The biggest grant winner, the Port of Los Angeles, which received $412 million, will use the money to buy 425 pieces of battery-electric, human-operated cargo-handling equipment and to deploy 250 electric drayage trucks. It will also provide $50 million for workforce development, including union-related jobs.

“The men and women of the ILWU [International Longshore and Warehouse Union] are thrilled to learn of this over $400 million investment by the U.S. EPA,” said ILWU Local 13 President Gary Herrera, in a news release.

“Human operated, zero-emission cargo-handling equipment is the gold standard for maritime port operations not only because it protects good jobs while cleaning the air, but is also the most efficient and cost-effective in terms of port operations, while additionally providing the necessary safeguards against cyber threats to our national security.”

The Virginia Port Authority, the second-largest grant winner, receiving $380 million, will use the funds to replace more than 150 pieces of old port-handling equipment at its Norfolk International Terminals and Richmond Marine Terminal with electric equipment including specialized cranes, forklifts, shuttle carriers for moving containers, and electric locomotives.

“This grant is truly transformative for our port and our community,” said Virginia Port Authority Executive Director Stephen Edwards, in a news release. “It will make our operations more efficient and sustainable, enhance our capabilities and allow us to continue making strides toward becoming the U.S. East Coast’s first net-zero port.”

Funding will be used for similar zero-emission equipment purchases and electric infrastructure for container operations at the Port of New York and New Jersey, which received $347 million, and the Port of Oakland, which received $322 million.

Biden lauds Port of Baltimore reopening, infrastructure investments

Mike Heuer
Tue, October 29, 2024 

President Joe Biden lauded the rapid re-opening of the Port of Baltimore during an outdoor event Tuesday afternoon and is pictured giving remarks at a Diwali celebration in the East Room of the White House on Monday. Pool Photo by Jim Lo Scalzo/UPIMore

Oct. 29 (UPI) -- President Joe Biden cited the reopening of the Port of Baltimore in June as evidence of the great things that can be done by investing in America and its infrastructure.

Biden spoke at an open-air event on a dock at the Port of Baltimore and lauded the port's re-opening after that deadly Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse that killed six bridge workers in March.

Biden said union workers and federal agencies made it possible to open the port about 2.5 months after the bridge collapse.

"The middle class built this country, and unions built the middle class," Biden said.

After the cargo ship Dali struck the bridge and caused its collapse early in the morning on March 26, Biden said 30,000 people lost their daily route to work, school and home and "40,000 paychecks" were put at risk.


Salvors with the Unified Command perform a controlled demolition and precision cutting of section 4 of the Francis Scott Key Bridge on May 13 as part of the efforts that re-opened the port 78 days after the deadly bridge collapse. File Photo by Christopher Rosario/U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/UPIMore

"We did everything possible to open this port as fast as possible," Biden said. "We removed 50,000 tons of concrete and steel."

Many estimated it would take six months to re-open the port, but Biden said, "You cleared it in 78 days."

He said $60 million in federal funding and grants helped fund the cleanup and kept businesses open.

Now that the port is reopened, Biden said 8,000 people are back to work and the Port of Baltimore handles 100,000 tons of cargo every day.

"We won't stop until a new bridge is finished," Biden said. "We have to build it back better than before."

He wants Congress to fully fund new bridge construction this year and cited the Port of Baltimore and the pending replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge as examples of his "Investing in America" policy.

One of two shipping containers located near the stage held an "Investing in America" sign.

Other examples Biden cited as part of his infrastructure and investment policy include $3 billion in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act for projects in 27 states and territories and $447 million to upgrade equipment and energy at the Port of Baltimore.

He said the port and other locations have depended on fossil fuels for too long, which causes "dangerous pollution" that afflicts children with asthma, heart disease, lung disease and cancer.

Cutting costs at the nation's port facilities will extend supply chains, make businesses more competitive, lower consumer costs and create 40,000 new jobs, Biden said.

He cited the Port of Baltimore as an example, where 2,000 new jobs were created for longshoremen, iron workers and others.

Those are "good-paying union jobs you can raise your families on," Biden said. "This is what we call 'investing in America.' It's working!"

Biden said the United States has the world's strongest economy thanks to legislation enacted during his presidency, including the Chips and Science Act, Inflation Reduction Act and fighting climate change.

The United States is the only nation that emerges from a crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic, stronger than what it was before the crisis occurred, Biden added.

He said his administration created a record 16 million new jobs, wages are up and inflation is down to the same rate it was before the pandemic.

His administration brought jobs and factories back to the United States, he said, and 19 million new business applications have been filed since he took office.

"Consumer confidence is up [and] the economy is growing," Biden said. "The middle class is doing well."

He said he felt a sense of pride with the rapid reopening of the Port of Baltimore.

"A true measure of a person is not how often you get knocked down," Biden said. "It's how fast you get back on your feet."

"That's what 'Baltimore Strong' is," Biden added. "Let's keep working together."

The president spoke for about 15 minutes during the event that started at 2 p.m. EDT and ended about 30 minutes later.


Biden in Baltimore: Key Bridge funding, ice cream and a $147 million pledge for Port of Baltimore

Jeff Barker, The Baltimore Sun
Tue, October 29, 2024 


BALTIMORE — President Joe Biden, continuing to make Baltimore a symbol of his administration’s push to upgrade aging infrastructure, pledged $147 million in grants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the Port of Baltimore.

He also reiterated his pledge to fully fund the replacement of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. That commitment must be made by Congress, which hasn’t yet passed legislation to fund the project at 100%.

“We won’t stop until the new bridge is finished completely,” Biden said Tuesday at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore. “I call on Congress to fully fund it this year.”

The Maryland Port Administration will receive $145 million in Environmental Protection Agency grants to purchase zero-emission cargo handling and other equipment, and new heavy-duty transport trucks and locomotives, according to the White House. It said the port also will receive $2 million to help it “chart a path to greater emissions reductions in the future.”

The infusion of money is expected to ultimately lead to 2,000 jobs as the projects occur over the next three to four years, according to administration estimates.

The aid is part of a $3 billion national investment in ports that was part of the Inflation Reduction Act signed by Biden in 2022. It is aimed at reducing pollution for port workers and surrounding communities and creating union jobs.

Biden spoke at the marine terminal in front of a red, white and blue sign reading, “President Joe Biden. Investing in America.” Shipping vessels were visible in the water behind him.

Before Biden spoke, Mayor Brandon Scott, Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., and other Maryland lawmakers thanked the president for his support of Baltimore and the port.

“Thank you, President Biden, for coming to our rescue and being with us all the way,” Cardin said, thanking Biden in particular for his pledge to obtain 100% federal funding to replace the Key Bridge following its collapse that killed six construction workers and halted activity at the Port of Baltimore in March.

Speaking before Biden, Gov. Wes Moore recounted the Key Bridge collapse in March.

“The Port of Baltimore is back,” Moore said. “It’s great that today we’re here because of a triumph.”

Biden’s speech, one week before the presidential election, was part of a push by national Democrats to promote the administration’s efforts to upgrade aging infrastructure. Biden has joked that Republicans who voted against a massive infrastructure package in 2021 now seek to claim credit for large projects in their districts.

The $146 million for Maryland will come from a grant program called “Clean Ports” that the state’s port administration applied for and is administered by the EPA, which lists the project start date as Feb. 1.

Biden has made Baltimore a symbol of his push to upgrade ports, roads, bridges, transit systems and broadband.

In 2021, the Democratic president toured the port to celebrate the passage of the infrastructure improvement legislation that came as American ports, particularly along the West Coast, experienced jams that spurred price jumps for many products as the nation recovered from the coronavirus pandemic.

More recently, Biden visited Baltimore following the Key Bridge collapse.

He pledged then that his administration would help clear the channel — that was completed in June — and secure full federal funding for the bridge replacement.

The $147 million is distinct from the push by Maryland lawmakers to secure 100% funding from Congress for the replacement of Key Bridge. That effort is ongoing, and Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen said Tuesday that the state’s federal delegation hopes to have that approval from Congress by the end of the year.

Biden headed from the port to BMORE LICKS, a popular Canton ice cream store.

“Oh my god, Joe Biden is here,” a passerby shouted.

The small shop became a news conference venue as Biden was asked about North Korean troops and Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign speech Tuesday night.

Biden said he planned to watch Harris’ speech in Washington but not attend. “It’s for her,” he said.

The corner shop, with a mural of an ice cream cone on an outside wall, advertises “homemade hard ice cream” and “flurries.”

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