President Joe Biden on Tuesday used a visit to the port of Baltimore – where a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge five months ago causing a deadly collapse – to announce a new $3 billion to improve port infrastructure and reduce pollution across the country. 

What You Need To Know

  • President Joe Biden on Tuesday used a visit to the port of Baltimore – where a cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key bridge five months ago causing a deadly collapse – to announce a new $3 billion to improve port infrastructure and reduce pollution across the country
  • The funding – which comes from one of Biden’s signature pieces of legislation passed by Democrats in Congress in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act – will go to 55 locations in 27 different states and territories; The Maryland Port Administration specifically will receive $147 million to go toward the purchase and installation of zero-emission port equipment and charging infrastructure 
  • Biden used the announcement as an opportunity to take a jab at Vice President Kamala Harris’ GOP opponent for the White House, former President Donald Trump, by specifically noting that Puerto Rico will benefit from the new funding announced on Tuesday
  • The president on Tuesday also reflected on the impact of the March bridge collapse, which left six construction workers dead and disrupted shipping routes and praised efforts, led by the United States Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers, to quickly clear the wreckage

“Folks, ports are the linchpin, the linchpin to America’s supply chain,” Biden said in Baltimore on Tuesday. “They keep goods moving, keep the economy strong and they employ over 100,000 union workers, from Teamsters to Longshoremen.” 

The funding – which comes from one of Biden’s signature pieces of legislation passed by Democrats in Congress in 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act – will go to 55 locations in 27 different states and territories. The Maryland Port Administration specifically will receive $147 million to go toward the purchase and installation of zero-emission port equipment and charging infrastructure. 

The president on Tuesday couched the investment – which he said will support 40,000 jobs – as a part of his bid to take on the climate crisis and boost clean energy jobs. 

“For too long, they’ve run on fossil fuels and aging infrastructure, putting workers at risk and exposing nearby communities to dangerous pollution,” Biden said of ports. “Studies show more childhood asthma, lung disease and heart disease and cancer [for] folks who live close to ports. This is about environmental justice.” 

Biden used the announcement as an opportunity to take a jab at Vice President Kamala Harris’ GOP opponent for the White House, former President Donald Trump, by specifically noting that Puerto Rico will benefit from the new funding announced on Tuesday. The Caribbean island and U.S. territory has been in the political spotlight after a comedian referred to it as a “floating island of garbage” in his remarks ahead of Trump at his rally in New York on Sunday. 

“I’d like to take that guy for a swim out there to take,” Biden said, before referencing Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., who was in attendance for the president’s remarks on Tuesday. “Steney looking at me [like] ‘don’t get going, Joe,’” he said. 

Biden on Tuesday also reflected on the impact of the March bridge collapse, which left six construction workers dead and disrupted shipping routes. He praised efforts, led by the United States Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers, to quickly clear the wreckage, noting some thought there would be blockage for six months. 

“But you cleared it in 78 days, 78 days,” Biden said, adding that over 100,000 pounds of cargo is passing through the port again on a daily basis. 

He pledged that the federal government “won’t stop” until a new bridge is built and called on Congress to pass legislation committing to funding that construction before the end of the year and a new administration comes into the White House. 

The Department of Justice last week announced that the owner of the cargo ship agreed to pay more than $100 million as part of a settlement to cover cleaning costs incurred by the federal government. But such a cost is separate from the one it will take to rebuild the bridge. The state of Maryland is pursuing its own lawsuit as it relates to the collapse.