The Trudeau government has approved one controversial B.C. oil pipeline to the Pacific and rejected the second.

The federal cabinet today agreed to accept Kinder Morgan's proposal to twin the 63-year-old Trans Mountain pipeline to Burnaby, and rejected Enbridge's Northern Gateway oil pipeline across northern B.C. to Kitimat.

"If I thought this project was unsafe for the B.C. coast I would reject it," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in Ottawa. "This is a decision based on rigorous debate, on science and on evidence. We have not been and will not be swayed by political arguments, be they local, regional or national."

Trudeau said the decision complements the federal decision, supported by Alberta, to put a national price on carbon to help meet Canada's international commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

He also said more pipeline capacity is needed to keep oil from travelling by rail across the country, at greater risk to communities.

"We have made this decision because it is safe for B.C. and it is the right one for Canada."

Kinder Morgan's $6.8-billion project would result in a seven-fold increase in tankers running through Vancouver harbour, carrying much more diluted bitumen than in the past.

Trudeau noted it's the twinning of an existing pipeline that has been in operation since 1953.

In contrast, Northern Gateway would have been an all-new pipeline.

It's the final nail in the coffin for the Enbridge project, that was widely considered dead in the face of widespread opposition from northwestern B.C. First Nations as well as the B.C. government.

Trudeau said the Great Bear Rainforest is no place for a pipeline and the Douglas Channel is no place for oil tanker traffic.

Enbridge's $7.9-billion proposal, which had been in the works since 2005, had been conditionally approved by the former Conservative government in 2014, but that green light was overturned by a federal court ruling that the new Liberal government had already decided not to appeal.

The court had found Ottawa failed to meaningfully consult affected First Nations along the 1,177-kilometre route before approving the project.

Trudeau said the Liberal government will also fulfill a campaign promise to legislate a moratorium on crude oil tanker shipments on B.C.'s north coast.

The Kinder Morgan approval sets the stage for a massive confrontation with environmentalists in B.C.

Protesters have already been staging rallies and making preparations for what some believe will be a huge battle, perhaps rivalling the ongoing violent standoff over a pipeline project in North Dakota.

The expansion would triple Trans Mountain capacity to 890,000 barrels per day and result in a seven-fold increase in oil tanker traffic through Burrard Inlet to about 35 a month, which opponents say would greatly increase the risk of an impossible-to-clean spill of diluted bitumen.

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson said he's "profoundly disappointed" with the decision, calling it a "big step backwards for Canada's environment and economy."

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