President Joe Biden announced a $3 billion investment to upgrade ports across the U.S. during a Tuesday stop at the Port of Baltimore.
The investment from his Inflation Reduction Act includes $147 million in grants for the Port of Baltimore to decarbonize its cargo handling operations, the White House said in a statement.
The president also expressed support for longshore union members concerned about automation taking away their jobs, a key issue in a three-day strike at East and Gulf Coast ports earlier this month.
“Ports are the linchpin to America’s supply chain. They keep goods moving,” Mr. Biden said at Dundalk Marine Terminal, near the site of the March 26 bridge collapse that closed commercial shipping traffic for nearly three months.
The Port of Baltimore 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.
Combined, U.S. ports employ over 100,000 union workers, Biden said. “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 government investment will spawn “good-paying union jobs you can raise a family on without a college degree,” he added, noting that the funding is expected to create 2,000 jobs.
The federal funds will help purchase “battery-electric and hydrogen-powered human-operated and human-maintained equipment,” such as that used to handle cargo, along with charging and infrastructure, according to the Biden administration.
Zero-emission goal
The grants announced Tuesday come under a “clean ports” program that authorities hope can improve air quality at the ports by installing “clean, zero-emission freight and ferry technologies along with associated infrastructure.” The goal is to eliminate more than 3 million metric tons of carbon pollution over 10 years, the White House said.
Mr. Biden also used the occasion to tout his administration’s economic record, noting that U.S. inflation has normalized, while the unemployment remains historically low.
His visit also comes months after the collapse of the Francis Scott Key bridge in March, which closed ship traffic in and out of the port of Baltimore and killed six workers.
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