Canadian director James Cameron of Aliens fame (oh and Avatar I guess) brought a camera crew with him on a tour of the Alberta Oilsands.

The director made his high profile visit to meet with local native leaders concerned about the contamination of the Athabasca river, as well as to take a tour of industry operations with oil executives and meet a bevy of politicians on what Cameron has called a "black eye on Canada."  First Nation's leaders said that that they had approached the Alberta government over their concerns, but were rebuffed, which led them to contacting James Cameron.

This morning Cameron joined a press conference held by First Nation's leaders which included the national chief, to join efforts with them to highlight the damage being done to their communities by the oilsands projects.  He displayed his media savvy when he was called upon to speak first and declined, saying that he was a guest and would be more comfortable speaking after the major First Nation's leaders spoke first.  I only bring this up because the same tactic was used when Stephen Colbert testified before Congress as the last person of a group so that the media would broadcast everything in anticipation of his testimony.  At first, those who testified were upset at being over shadowed, until their Facebook, Twitter , and email accounts blew up.

In any event, James Cameron has certainly brought a lot of attention to the plight of native communities being poisoned by the continued development of oilsands projects in the current manner.  He said that he understood the "gold rush" for energy in Alberta, but he called for practical solutions for the current environmental problems based on independent science and proper peer reviewed studies. 

Watch Cameron's comments at the press conference below: