Actress, Neve Campbell, and friends, take a trip with Forest Ethics to get a first hand look at the devastating effects the Alberta Tar Sands is having on the environment..
You may remember her from Party of Five. She played the beautiful big sister that everyone in the world stayed up to watch on Thursday nights. She’s also known for her award winning performances in pop movies like Scream, and has been on People magazine’s Most Beautiful list multiple times.
A true thespian dedicated to her craft, Neve Campbell has recently taken on more serious roles as an actor and activist. This Spring, she will be back on prime-time, playing an inspiring new lead role in the NBC drama, The Philanthropist. In what she describes as a very “eye opening view on world issues”, the show, based on the life of Bobby Sager, a billionaire who decides travel the world and dedicate his life to serving others.
This role provided Campbell with opportunities to live globally for the past few months. Much of the shooting was done in Cape Town, South Africa and Prague. A global girl by nature, she currently resides in London with her husband and dogs. However, her most recent passion lies closer to home in Canada, where she was born and raised.
Some of her fondest memories of her native land were the precious forest, rare wildlife and the indigenous people, rich in culture. “I’m proud of the beauty and resourcefulness of our expansive northern country” says Campbell. Her passion to preserve her local community is what led her on a recent trip to the Alberta Tar Sands, with friend, Elizabeth Lahey and the environmental group, Forest Ethics (Forest Ethics is a non-profit environmental organization that works to protect endangered forests and ensure a shift to a more sustainable way of living that supports local communities).
Forest Ethics had invited them to have a first hand look at the devastating effects the Tar Sands industry is having on the region. The two women joined Tzeporah Berman and Todd Paglia, Directors of Forest Ethics, and world reknown photographer, Colin Finlay. Finlay, who has made it his commitment to capture and document images of our planet, both it’s beauty and it’s unrest.
“The human health, wildlife and other environmental costs of the Tar Sands operations are simply too high. It’s poisoning local communities, threatening wild life and is the single largest reason for the rise in Canada’s green house gas emissions in the coming decade ” Campbell says.
She added, “As a Canadian I’m really upset that the independent reports that came out last month list Canada as having the second weakest climate policies of any industrialized country”.