Is Southeast Louisiana Doomed?

Mother Nature is always in control, but we can do our best to work with her

rather than ignore what's coming.

How do you think people can deal with the political disincentives to seriously address this issue?

That that's the toughest thing to deal with.

You know, it's not a great political platform to say we need to unbuild the city.

Never would you want to say we need to retreat or relocate as a political platform.

I would want to focus on a more future looking planning process.

And that's why this long time horizon is so beneficial, because we're talking about growth towards higher ground in conversation with community for residents of Southeastern Louisiana.

When you think about the fact that home insurers are reducing coverage, leaving the region, businesses are concerned about the impacts of climate change in this region.

you can improve some of those things theoretically by strategically and intentionally planning for the future.

So if we think about it more as in what direction are we growing as opposed to what are we relocating or what are we unbuilding? I would hope that would be more politically palatable over time, but it's a tough sell.

Point-of-Shin Native American tribe member Teresa Dardar witnessed the devastation Hurricane Ida unleashed on her village in 2021.

She explained to PBS why her community is determined to stay in South Louisiana.

Everybody that's here, even though they lost their homes, they still want to come home.

I think they feel an attachment to the land because this is where our ancestors were.

Our cemeteries and our mounds are all down the bayou.

We're all connected to that.

This is home.

And where would you have us go? We're getting close to be the elders of the community.

Once we're gone, you know, I want the tribe to still be going on.

I don't want all our work to be in vain.

We need it to continue.

Abby Hotard is an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama's School of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

She specializes in human climate adaptation.

I asked her about her own reaction to the paper and what she thought of the focus on the idea that people might need to move away from the region.

Mother Nature is always in control, but we can do our best to work with her

rather than ignore what's coming.

How do you think people can deal with the political disincentives to seriously address this issue?

That that's the toughest thing to deal with.

You know, it's not a great political platform to say we need to unbuild the city.

Never would you want to say we need to retreat or relocate as a political platform.

I would want to focus on a more future looking planning process.

And that's why this long time horizon is so beneficial, because we're talking about growth towards higher ground in conversation with community for residents of Southeastern Louisiana.

When you think about the fact that home insurers are reducing coverage, leaving the region, businesses are concerned about the impacts of climate change in this region.

you can improve some of those things theoretically by strategically and intentionally planning for the future.

So if we think about it more as in what direction are we growing as opposed to what are we relocating or what are we unbuilding? I would hope that would be more politically palatable over time, but it's a tough sell.

Point-of-Shin Native American tribe member Teresa Dardar witnessed the devastation Hurricane Ida unleashed on her village in 2021.

She explained to PBS why her community is determined to stay in South Louisiana.

Everybody that's here, even though they lost their homes, they still want to come home.

I think they feel an attachment to the land because this is where our ancestors were.

Our cemeteries and our mounds are all down the bayou.

We're all connected to that.

This is home.

And where would you have us go? We're getting close to be the elders of the community.

Once we're gone, you know, I want the tribe to still be going on.

I don't want all our work to be in vain.

We need it to continue.

Abby Hotard is an assistant professor at the University of South Alabama's School of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

She specializes in human climate adaptation.

I asked her about her own reaction to the paper and what she thought of the focus on the idea that people might need to move away from the region.