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In 2001, Congress passed the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st<\/sup> Century, which included funds for the Maglev Deployment Program. Two proposals \u2013 for the Baltimore to Washington Maglev line and another in Pittsburgh — were selected for further evaluation. In 2003, a Maglev train proposal was developed in Maryland, but the state dropped the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interest in the Maglev project was reinvigorated after Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, visited Yamanashi, Japan in 2015 and rode a 27-mile test track for the future Tokyo-Nagoya line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExploring this new Maglev technology between Baltimore and Washington represents a huge transportation and economic development opportunity for Maryland,” said Hogan in a statement on the state Department of Transportation website at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maglev trains run at speeds of over 300 miles per hour. Using forces of propulsion and magnetism, the Maglev trains use the basic principles of magnetism (opposites attract, similarities repel) to levitate on the tracks. The trains have magnets on the sides of the train known as superconductive magnets that rely on this factor of push and pull to \u201clevitate\u201d across the tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The trains are considered by supporters as the transportation of the future. However, environmental activists are concerned about the amount of energy required to power the train as well as the damage to the refuge should the train run through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hogan got a $27.8 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration in 2016 to prepare a draft environmental impact statement, which is required by the National Environmental Protection Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was released for public comment in January and showed the potential routes of the train, outlined potential costs and identified areas that could be impacted by the construction of the train.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On May 24, the public comment window closed. FRA, the Maryland Department of Transportation and the Maryland Economic Development Corporation now are drafting a final environmental impact statement, estimated for completion in spring 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Craig Gordon, a spokesman for Northeast Maglev, said that the cost of the train cannot be finalized until a route is chosen, but it will be financed through federal infrastructure loans and private investments. In addition, Japanese government has offered to provide funding in the form of \u201clow- interest loans to help with the construction cost for the first leg of the project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He also said the company is \u201cconcerned with the threat of any habitat destruction and (has) worked to minimize the footprint of our infrastructure to the greatest extent possible – and will continue to do so as more advanced levels of project engineering occur.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Refuge workers don\u2019t comment on the whether the train should be built, but know the risks of disrupting the refuge\u2019s habitat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you look at the diversity that we have, it would all have to go somewhere,\u201d said Jason Cangelosi, visitor services manager at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diana Ogilve, a park ranger and volunteer coordinator at the refuge, said wildlife cannot always be relocated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe thing about any kind of species collapsing is everything is connected,\u201d said Ogilve. \u201cIf one thing collapses, it affects everything else. And so if we lose one species, it could spell doom for many more species that depend on that species, either as prey or predator.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeffries Bolden, one of the park rangers on the North Tract of the refuge, said refuge volunteers worry that it may not last another 50 years because of societal pressures to develop the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jerry L. Burgess, director of the environmental science and policy master\u2019s program at Johns Hopkins University, said that he would not want to see the habitats of the refuge\u2019s various species removed because \u201cwe’re losing species almost faster than we can count them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lindsey Mendelson, transportation representative for the Sierra Club\u2019s Maryland Chapter, said the Sierra Club supports the development of smarter infrastructure but calls the train \u201cquestionable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excavation that they have to do,\u201d said Mendelson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kyle Hart, mid-Atlantic field representative for the National Parks Conservation Association, said the region already has lost a lot of undeveloped land, including forests and wetlands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s not a mystery that in this region, habitat that is good for animals and plants and is not already subdivisions, shopping malls, and the like, is few and far between,\u201d said Hart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Northeast Maglev believes the train will reduce the number of cars on the road by 12% to 15% according to CEO Wayne Rodgers\u2019 testimony at a hearing of the House Committee on Transportation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But Lewis Fulton, director of the Sustainable Transportation, Energy Placement at University of California, Davis said that train projects like the Maglev could increase the carbon footprint of the United States. \u201cThe faster the train, and the more new track you have to lay, the more carbon footprint you’re going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt all comes down to whether the extra speed is worth the cost, the additional energy use, and any other regional impacts that that it could have,\u201d said Fulton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/ecocide.medill.northwestern.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Maglev_map-1024x518.jpg\")
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