A Maine couple who described themselves as "climate refugees" after relocating from Texas discovered human feces on the front porch of their new home in Bangor, an incident that quickly drew mockery from conservative commentators.
In an article published in the Bangor Daily News, the couple, Shawn and Sara Good, sought to frame the incident of discovering feces and signs of a man sleeping on their patio furniture as a fair tradeoff to escape the "catastrophic" weather that plagued them in Texas. The article centered on the couple moving to Bangor because of their concerns about climate change. The Goods said they fled Austin after facing four catastrophic events in the past five years.
"When looking at global news, I'm so lucky that the big event I experienced recently was someone sleeping on my porch," Sara told the Bangor Daily News.
Local and national conservative voices criticized the couple and the Bangor Daily News for its framing of the incident in a city facing a serious homelessness issue, with encampments in the downtown area. The Bangor City Council passed an ordinance on Monday banning the storage of personal belongings along sidewalks in an effort to push back against encampments.
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Maine Republican state Rep. Reagan Paul suggested the article by the Bangor Daily News reads more like satire from the Babylon Bee than a hard-hitting news story.
"This is actual 'news' from the Bangor Daily News - treating a literal crap show as heartwarming proof that Maine is paradise," Paul wrote on X. "Most of us already know it - but for the few holdouts still treating the Bangor Daily News as serious journalism: when your paper has to spin literal human feces on a doorstep into a heartwarming relocation success story, it's time to admit reality and maybe stop taking them seriously as journalism."
Investigative reporter Steve Robinson weighed in, suggesting the couple faced a better fate than another Maine couple who were shot and killed in front of their two children just six months after moving from Texas in 2023.
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"By Maine standards human s--- on the door is good considering the last couple from Texas who moved here were murdered by a recidivist aspiring rap artist in front of their young children," Robinson posted on X. "Liberals call this restorative justice."
In recent years, Texans have faced Winter Storm Uri, which caused power outages throughout the state, deadly floods that claimed the lives of 130 people last year, Hurricane Beryl, and extreme heat.
Conservative commentator Dana Loesch, who lives in Texas, said every region of the United States can face catastrophic weather.
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"It's Texas," Loesch said on her show. "Texas gets some tornadoes. Texas gets some flooding."
"They leave Texas because it's hot here," Loesch continued. "That's a you issue. You should have known that."
Climate change is increasingly shaping where Americans choose to live. A Forbes study found 30% of homeowners have moved because of it.
Columbia University professor Alexander de Sherbinin suggested the U.S. could see "significant movements" as people seek to relocate to avoid more severe weather.
"Northern states could see an influx of people, because their summers will still be fairly pleasant and their winters less severe," de Sherbinin told Columbia Magazine.
