By Barbara Yaffe

It's curious to think that provinces have personalities. But they do. Alberta, Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, for example, had oil deposits to exploit and went ahead and exploited them, reaping the reward.

British Columbia is said to have 10 billion barrels of oil in four basins off its coast, and for years the province has let that oil just sit there, untapped.

What's so different about the West Coast jurisdiction that it contemplates petroleum resource extraction with such fear and loathing? Should we or shouldn't we? And how should we approach it, if we do so at all?

The answer to that last question is "very carefully," and both the provincial and federal governments understand this.

Interestingly, for the first time in a while, the two levels of governments are extremely business oriented and would, if political winds were accommodating, be inclined to go full steam ahead.

But it's tough to know which way the wind is blowing.

B.C. won't be an easy place for oil companies to do business, and not simply because of native claims or resource ownership disputes.

Vehicle licence plates declare this province "Beautiful B.C." Wilderness protection is part of the B.C. ethos. Tree hugging and eagle admiration is serious business here. Grandmothers and MPs go to jail to protect rainforests. Upper-middle-class adults hole up in tents to defend a bluff.

B.C. isn't as single-minded about doing business as Alberta, nor as financially strapped as the two oil-endowed Atlantic provinces.

In January of 2003, without fanfare, the Campbell government established an eight-member B.C. offshore oil and gas team within its Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources.

A month later, in a throne speech it asserted: "By 2010, your government wants to have an offshore oil and gas industry that is up and running, environmentally sound and booming with job creation."

This past February, federal Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn, representing Saanich-Gulf Islands, remarked: "We are open to discussing this and looking at it although we've made no decision on this."

Ocean Industries B.C., with 53 members, was formed in 2004 to lobby in favour. The group describes itself as "forward-thinking, business-minded volunteers," wanting seismic data gathered and exploration wells drilled.

Its perspective: "Canada needs additional oil and gas resources to offset depleting onshore supplies [and] the development of a west coast oil and gas industry presents an exciting and potentially lucrative opportunity for Western Canadian businesses."

Ottawa has had a moratorium on West Coast offshore activity since 1972. And it will be dicey for Stephen Harper's minority government to lift it at the urging of the Campbellites as long as the public appears lukewarm.

Hence, environmentalists are launching a campaign to ensure voters are aware of any and all potential negative impacts of offshore development, starting with the implications of seismic work.

The Oil Free Coast Alliance, comprising no fewer than 110 organizations, is the coordinating group for the environmentalists. Its motto: "Oil and water don't mix. Keep B.C.'s coast oil free."

Environmentalists believe seismic testing, the first step in sizing up offshore deposits, is imminent.

Information being sent to B.C. whale-watching groups says such testing is "currently being proposed in the Dixon entrance and Hecate Strait areas" and urges them to make their opposition known to government.

According to the David Suzuki Foundation, seismic testing involves continuous air gun blasts which create "a din that can cause physiological damage to marine mammals, sea turtles, fish and invertebrates."

"Seismic testing has also been shown to negatively affect the mating, migration and feeding patterns of a wide range of marine species."

Doubtless, a heavy price will be paid for offshore oil development. And it's going to be paid by the beautiful, voiceless critters who live in The sea and along the coastlines where the development will occur.

The question British Columbians must answer is whether the costs are worth the benefits.

The war of the woods was yesterday's controversy. The new focus in B.C. will be the battle for the offshore. And it's going to take place as public attention increasingly is diverted by preparations for the 2010 Olympic Games.