President Joe Biden will announce on Tuesday nearly $3 billion for zero-emission equipment and air mitigation at the nation’s ports.
The package, which Biden will unveil at the Port of Baltimore, comes as port operators face financial decisions over whether to switch from diesel to electric cranes, forklifts, tractors, and trucks.
The plan will prevent more than 3 million tons of carbon from being emitted—the same as 400,000 homes’ energy use per year—over its first 10 years of operation, Michael Regan, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, told reporters.
The funding will further slash 12,000 short tons of nitrogen oxides and 200 short tons of particulate matter 2.5, also known as PM 2.5 or soot, in its first 10 years, which will be a boon to communities located near ports, Regan said.
The plans laid out by the 55 funding recipients include zero-emission equipment, charging stations, battery systems, and worker training.
This effort will also “integrate community input into its port decisions, enhance resilience against severe weather, and promote workforce development partnerships with local learning institutions,” Regan said. The funding will further support more than 40,000 manufacturing, transport, logistics, and engineering jobs across the nation, said John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for international climate policy.
Most ports still use diesel-powered cranes, forklifts, tractors, and trucks. The adoption of cleaner alternatives has been stymied by a lack of cost data to help terminal operators and ports decide whether to switch technologies, according to a recent RMI report.
But the new funding “takes away risk for port operators and makes zero-emissions investments attractive,” said Fern Uennatornwaranggoon, climate campaign director for ports at Pacific Environment, a climate and ecological advocacy group.
The nation’s three biggest ports—the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and New York and New Jersey—released more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2019, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute.
The Port of Baltimore will get $147 million to buy zero-emission cargo handling equipment and drayage trucks, scrap their existing diesel-powered counterparts, and create an energy analysis with an emissions reduction plan. Biden has been highlighting the investments his administration has made at the port since it was temporarily closed after the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed in March.
The City of Los Angeles Harbor Department will get the biggest grant, at $411.7 million. Other large recipients include the Virginia Port Authority, at $380 million; the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, with $347.1 million; and the Port Department of the City of Oakland, with $322.2 million.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in September 2023 rolled out an ambitious plan as part of its goal to cut its emissions 100% by 2050.
Port Authority Executive Director Rick Cotton said at the time that technologies don’t exist for all types of port equipment, forcing the agency to move more slowly in some cases.
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