U.S. launches $4 billion effort to electrify U.S. ports, cut emissions

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it was seeking input in its $3 billion Clean Ports Program to reduce pollutants at U.S. ports and its $1 billion Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicle Program to reduce vehicle emissions near ports and other truck routes. EPA wants details about the availability, market price, and performance of zero-emission trucks, zero-emission port equipment, electric charging and other infrastructure needs for zero-emission technologies.

White House National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi said the program is addressing “pernicious pollution pumping through our port communities by making investments and setting standards that will spur a shift away from dirty diesel to clean, American-made technologies.”

Zaidi told Reuters that ports account for a significant share of emissions. “They are pockets of concentrated pollution,” Zaidi said. “You can be accelerating in the direction of more productive, more efficient hubs of economic activity but we can cut emissions at the same time.”

Earlier this year, the EPA finalized new clean air standards for heavy duty trucks for the first time in more than two decades that are 80% more stringent than current standards. The EPA estimates that by 2045, the rule will result in up to 2,900 annual fewer premature deaths, 1.1 million fewer lost school days for children and $29 billion in annual net benefits.