NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry canceled a $3 billion project designed to naturally restore the state's coastline using sediment from the Mississippi River. A study published in May concluded that New Orleans has reached a "point of no return" due to the climate crisis.

Torbjörn Törnqvist, a Tulane University academic and the lead researcher of the study, said, "Of course it's upsetting to hear this, but cities like New Orleans have an expiration date." He added, "We've already crossed a tipping point of survivability for our coastal wetlands, the rate of sea level rise is way too high." Törnqvist stated, "We will be surrounded by open water and New Orleans will be like a fortress in the Gulf of Mexico." The study estimates that the Louisiana coastline could move inland by as much as 62 miles (100km) in the coming century.

New Orleans' population, currently slightly more than 360,000 people, has declined in four of the last five years. Debra Campbell, Chair of the non-profit A Community Voice, which has approximately 9,000 members in New Orleans, said residents would only leave if "forced to leave due to hurricanes, flooding and the heavy industrialization of our neighborhoods." Community group representatives from New Orleans recently traveled to Vicksburg and Natchez, Mississippi—locations approximately three hours away by car—to evaluate potential relocation sites. Campbell told officials at these locations, "I told them, 'We're coming. We're coming in an exodus.'"

Steve Picou, a musician and environmental planner, moved from New Orleans to Opelousas three years ago. His annual home insurance rates increased from $900 to approximately $9,000 over the past two decades. Opelousas is located 130 miles north-west of New Orleans at an elevation of 66 feet (20 meters) above sea level. Volunteers recently planted 1,000 plugs of grass to help combat erosion and rebuild the local shoreline in New Orleans.