"But after attending more funerals than he could count for loved ones that died from cancer, he began to feel differently about the job. Beard has spent the past year doing "extensive work" in Europe, warning allies about the dangers of expanding fossil fuels and urging them to prepare to "stand up and push back" against U.S. and industry plans under the Trump administration."
"He has also been coordinating with local advocates to scrutinize new industrial proposals in Port Arthur, his hometown in southeast Texas, which is home to several oil refineries. Nearly half of the people living in his neighborhood report living with "poor" health, according to federal data. And the risk for developing cancer caused by air pollution is essentially the highest in the country at 1 in every 53 residents. Beard fears it may get worse."
"For him, the recent U.S. airstrike on Venezuela, which killed at least 40 citizens and has been framed as a push to restore democracy, has landed as something far more familiar: a fight over oil. Until 2010, Venezuela was one of the world's largest oil producers, but over the past 15 years the country's oil production fell sharply as U.S. sanctions crippled its exports and Venezuela's government limited output to retain control over the resource."
John Beard, a former refinery worker from Port Arthur, expresses deep concern about local health and expanding fossil fuel infrastructure. He has shifted from working at a refinery to coordinating with local advocates and conducting extensive outreach in Europe to urge allies to resist additional fossil fuel development. Nearly half of his neighborhood reports "poor" health, and air-pollution-related cancer risk is about 1 in 53 residents. Recent U.S. actions around Venezuela are perceived as linked to oil interests, while Venezuela’s production fell after sanctions even as the country retains the world’s largest proven oil reserves.
Read at Truthout
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