Sea level, subsidence & climate change

An experienced oil, gas and energy industry executive with more than three decades of experience, David Lawrence, chairman of Lawrence Energy Group, LLC most recently served as the executive vice president of exploration and commercial activities for Shell Upstream Americas in Houston. At Shell, in addition to exploration for conventional and unconventional resources, his responsibilities included wind energy, LNG, acquisitions, divestments and gas to liquids in the Americas. David Lawrence draws upon his experience at Shell to help a number of groups learn more about the energy transition, climate change and its ongoing effects. 

A small town on the western flanks of the rapidly subsiding Mississippi River delta in Louisiana is one of the first places in the United States to feel the practical effects of local sea level rise, enhanced by climate change. Due to rising waters caused by the ongoing subsidence, compaction, and erosion of the narrow strip of land on which the town is built, as well as sea level rise, the sea been encroaching upon the town for more than 60 years. The residents of Isle de Jean Charles are being advised to relocate within the next five years, with the US government providing up to $48 million in funding to help the people find new homes.

The move will be especially difficult for members of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribes, who have sacred ties to the land. With rising waters, however, they will have little choice but to leave their historic homeland behind.

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