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This story was originally published by Capital B.

On Saturday morning, John Beard woke up to news that he’d been dreading, but preparing for: A global oil crisis could hit closer to home in Texas.

The southeastern part of the state is home to more than a dozen oil refineries, and he’d spent decades working at one of them. 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. Today, Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, a critical resource only becoming more valuable as global supplies tighten and energy demands surge.

President Donald Trump has said the U.S. will be taking over the nation’s oil reserves — keeping some for the U.S. while........

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