American President Barack Obama this week delayed again the decision on whether to proceed with construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline.

The decision will now take at least a year, and it looks more and more as if the Keystone pipeline won't get built. This leaves the Northern Gateway pipeline across British Columbia as the next alternative to exporting oil sands crude. However, the route through the mountains is extremely difficult, and most of the First Nations along the proposed pipeline adamantly oppose its construction.

There are two main reasons for this, and neither is an easy fix.

The environmental impacts are of concern to a wide group that includes First Nations, the government of British Columbia and the general public. The pipeline will pass through some of the most beautiful country in Canada, and cross numerous rivers that feed into whole watersheds.

When the crude gets to the West Coast, it will have to be taken on a risky tanker route through the fiords to the open sea. Every step of the way holds the potential for an environmental disaster. To agree to support it amounts to a leap of faith that many are not willing to take.

But the group holding the trump card is the First Nations. Most of B.C. never has been surrendered to the Crown, and the title remains with them.