by Lloyd's List

30 October 2024 (Lloyd's List) - LOS Angeles, Virginia and New York and New Jersey are the biggest winners from the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Ports Program grants.

The three majors will net more than $1bn in grants, or more than a third of the total available to US ports.

High on the agenda for many ports is shore power, with 15 of the 55 selected projects highlighting it as an area of focus.

Los Angeles, New York and New Jersey and Corpus Christi will all use some of their grants for shore power, meaning three of the top five US ports by tonnage will install some form of shore power through the scheme.

US President Biden, speaking at the Dundalk Marine Terminal in Baltimore, said he was “proud to announce $3bn in funding from my Inflation Reduction Act, to clean up and modernise ports from 27 different states and territories”.

“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.

“Studies show more childhood asthma, lung disease and heart disease and cancer in folks who live close to the ports. It’s about environmental justice.”