Biden, in Baltimore, touts $3 billion for clean-energy projects at ports nationwide

President Joe Biden (D) visited the Port of Baltimore to announce federal grants totaling $3 billion for clean energy updates to America's ports, including Baltimore, which is slated to get more than $147 million. Photo by Danielle J. Brown.

President Joe Biden came to Baltimore on Tuesday to announce the release of $3 billion for clean-energy improvements at ports around the country — but with elections just a week away, politics naturally edged its way into the discussion.

“I’m proud to announce $3 billion in funding from my Inflation Reduction Act, to clean up and modernize ports from 27 different states and territories. From Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, and beyond. Including – yes, Puerto Rico,” Biden said, a dig at former President Donald Trump’s rally Sunday, where a warm-up speaker caused waves by calling the territory an “island of garbage.”

There were other partisan shots during the afternoon event at the Dundalk Marine Terminal but the event, which included a number of state and local Democratic officials, focused mostly on the grant.

“This also includes $147 million for the Port of Baltimore to upgrade it’s cargo equipment, infrastructure and power grid,” Biden said.

The nearly $148 million in federal funding will be used to help the port with clean energy upgrades, part of $3 billion in Clean Port grants to be distributed to 55 ports across the country. In Baltimore, the grant will go toward purchasing zero-emission cargo handling equipment and trucks, as well as other expenses to reduce pollution produced at the port.

Biden said that while ports are crucial to commerce, communities that live near ports tend to have more health issues than those farther away.

“For too long, they’ve run on fossil fuels and aging infrastructure, putting workers at risk and exposing nearby communities to dangerous pollution,” he said. “Studies show more childhood asthma, lung disease and heart disease and cancer in folks who live close to the ports,” Biden said.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Michael Regan, called the Port of Baltimore “a critical hub that is essential to both our nation’s economy and the economy of the local community.” But he said electrification of port equipment will help cut emissions and reduce exposure to some of “our most vulnerable communities.”

“We know that too many communities near our nation’s ports are exposed to diesel pollution from cargo equipment, trucks, ships and locomotives that enter and exit the port on a daily basis,” Regan said.

“Clean Ports … will cut pollution by deploying zero-emissions equipment that is operated and maintained by American workers, all while ensuring that the iron, the steel and the construction material for these projects come from American manufacturers, creating jobs right here at home,” he said.

Gov. Wes Moore (D) called the federal grants a “triumph” for Maryland and the United States.

“Last time he (Biden) was here in Baltimore, he was here because of a tragedy. Not just to our state … but also to the entire country,” Moore said of the March 26 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge. “So it’s great that today we’re here because of triumph.”

Biden recalled  visiting the rubble of the bridge, following its collapse into the Patapsco River after the container ship Dali lost power and ran into the bridge’s supports in March.

“Within seconds, steel beams crumbled into the harbor like toothpicks,” Biden said, reaffirming his intent to have the federal government fully fund the bridge’s replacement.

“As I promised last spring, we won’t stop until the new bridge is finished completely,” said Biden, who hopes that Congress agrees by the end of the year to approve the funding.

Moore and Biden were also joined by Democratic Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-7th), Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D).

In addition to the Puerto Rico dig, Biden took a few other jabs at his predecessor Tuesday, claiming he and Vice President Kamala Harris — the Democratic nominee running against Trump to replace Biden — have pushed for more clean energy options and infrastructure than Trump did during his presidency.

“My predecessor promised infrastructure every week for four years — they never built a damn thing,” he said. “It’s clear, after years of broken promises by the last administration, Kamala and I, the entire administration, have delivered for America.”

Following the event, Moore went to bat for Harris’s campaign in response to questions from reporters.

“While this election is going to be close, I am convinced that the American people are going to make the right decision. They’re going to vote on values, and they’re going to make sure that Kamala Harris becomes the next president,” he said.