THIS province may be about to feel the impact of a squeeze play by huge energy companies and Alberta, China and Ottawa.
This scenario has been building for some time, ever since Enbridge Inc. first proposed building a $6.6-billion pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat on British Columbia's northwest coast.
It wants to move more than 500,000 barrels from the Alberta oil sands every day for shipment to Asia.
Enbridge's proposal has been fiercely opposed by a coalition of interests, including environmentalists and many First Nations. The possibility of a catastrophic oil spill from a tanker off B.C.'s coast is too nightmarish to contemplate for most.
But the proposal may have got a shot in the arm by last week's decision by the Barack Obama administration to delay a decision, for as much as 18 months, on another controversial pipeline coming out of the Alberta oil sands.
U.S. President Obama, not looking to generate much negative controversies before he seeks re-election, has put the brakes on TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline.
This $7-billion project would move 700,000 barrels a day to refineries on the Gulf of Mexico.
The Keystone project has been the subject of mounting protests by people who can be considered key Obama supporters, so the move to delay approval for the project seems to be an effort to placate them.
But the pressure on moving oil sands crude out of Alberta is not going to diminish any time soon just because a nervous U.S. president puts a pipeline on hold.
In fact, as our planet continues its addiction to oil, demand will only increase.
The biggest gobbler of Alberta's number 1 export is expected to be China.
The country's continued explosive growth means it has an insatiable appetite for things like oil.
China is driving the world economy right now, and its position is enhanced by the economic crisis in Europe and the sluggish performance of the U.S. economy.
Countries and corporations are eager to meet China's demand for various products.
British Columbia, for example, is aggressively marketing our valuable wood.
Alberta, however, has the more profitable and more enticing oil sands.
In the wake of Obama's decision, the Canadian government has said it intends to make an even bigger push to send this country's energy products to Asia and China.
Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver have said sending energy to China is a top priority.
Even though the Enbridge pipeline is still in the middle of the approval process, Oliver said he hopes for a decision within 18 months.
"We respect the regulatory process, but it's very important that we get on with this," he said on the weekend, sounding very much as if the regulatory process is an annoyance, but not a deal-breaker for his government.
But Enbridge isn't the only proposed pipeline in British Columbia that may now have a better chance of being developed.
Many people don't know that oil tankers sail in and out of Burrard Inlet every day, as they fill up at the Westridge facility located on the Burnaby side of the eastern end.
Now, Kinder Morgan wants to twin its existing Trans Mountain pipeline to move Alberta crude for shipment to Asia.
We're talking at least an extra 300,000 barrels a day and a heck of lot more tanker traffic going under the Lions Gate Bridge and the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, which both span narrow channels.
It's easy to say such pipelines shouldn't be built, but that's a simplistic solution to a very complex problem.
Like it or not, Alberta's tar sands are a huge economic boon to the nation's economy, and British Columbia benefits from them as well.
No one wants a major oil spill, yet we all continue to use oil and oil products at alarmingly high rates. It's hypocritical and disingenuous to pretend there is no consequence for shutting down the oil sands and blocking the construction of any pipelines.
But it's a debate that's really just starting in this province.
I suspect the B.C. Liberal government will side with the pro-pipeline position, although it has yet to signal its position (using the fact that assessment processes haven't been completed yet so there's no rush to offer an opinion).
By supporting the controversial Prosperity mine project, and by pushing for more than a dozen more mines to be established in the province, the Christy Clark government has shown it strongly backs natural resource industries - and oil is one of those.
Welcome to the world of pipeline politics. Things are going to get ugly.
Keith.Baldrey@globalnews.ca
Keith Baldrey is chief political correspondent for Global BC.
