Democratic Maryland Gov. Wes Moore warned Sunday on CNN about the effects that could be seen nationwide after a Baltimore bridge collapsed earlier this week.
Moore appeared on “State of the Union” to discuss the aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse following a container ship hitting the bridge early March 26 which resulted in the death of six people. CNN host Dana Bash questioned the Maryland governor on the economic effects of the collapsed bridge as it is one of the ten busiest ports in the U.S. (RELATED: Biden Admin Approves $60 Million Request To Aid Baltimore Bridge Collapse)
“Could Americans see delays and higher prices as a result?” Bash questioned.
“Absolutely and people have to remember this is not a Baltimore catastrophe, not a Maryland catastrophe. This is a national economic catastrophe as well. As you mentioned, this port is one of the busiest, most active ports inside of the country, so this is not just going to have an impact on Maryland. This is going to impact the farmer in Kentucky. This is going to impact the auto dealer in Ohio. This is going to impact the restaurant owner in Tennessee,” Moore stated.
“Whether you talk about all those various industries, the port of Baltimore is the largest port in the country for all of those things. And so the reason that we need people to move in a bipartisan basis and move in a fast basis is not because we need you to do Maryland a favor. Maryland needs no favors. We need to make sure that we‘re actually moving quickly to get the American economy going again because the port of Baltimore is instrumental in our larger economic growth.”
The Biden administration approved an initial $60 million request Thursday from Moore’s office, which will be used to “support mobilization, operations, and debris removal.” The initial emergency fund relief approved by the Biden administration is not expected to be the last as the president previously pledged to financially support the entire cost of reconstructing the bridge.
The port of Baltimore handled an estimated 20% of all American coal exports, as well as allowing 52 million tons of foreign exports worth roughly $80 billion to be transported through the waterway in 2022, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Officials are still unclear of a confirmed timeline on when the bridge will be fully repaired.