The oil companies and their shills in Congress (and, under the last administration, in the White House) told us not only that off-shore oil wells were safe, but that not building more would hurt our national security.

“Drill, baby, drill,” the chorus sang. Well, we drilled and now we’re paying the price.

As millions of barrels of oil continue to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, costing ungodly sums of money and endangering entire coastal regions that rely on the ecosystem for their livelihood, I can only shake my head.

If an event of this epic proportion doesn’t force Americans to realize that we need to stop using fossil fuels to power our lives, nothing will. This stuff is too costly and too dangerous to continue using. Our industries must adapt and our cultural mindset must change.

For so long now, we’ve heard politicians on both sides of the aisle say “we need to end our dependence on foreign oil” when what they should be saying is “we need to end our dependence on oil, period.”

I’m a realist and understand that we can’t just start handing out hydrogen cars to all 300 million Americans. But if anything is made clear by this whole sad mess, it’s that this should be the ultimate goal. We must find ways to power our personal vehicles that don’t involve the need for drilling off our coasts or paying Arab oil states for their efforts.

In the 1970s, environmentalism became a mainstream movement. That happened in large part because there were visible signs that pollution was a problem. Major American cities were shrouded in smog. Rivers burned because of all the chemicals dumped into them. Acid rain killed off entire forests.

We solved many of those problems thanks to tighter emissions regulations and some common sense.

But like the frog in boiling water, since those obvious problems became less obvious, most Americans stopped paying attention to the rising heat that is literally surrounding us. Climate change is real and as serious a problem as we face in the world today.

Some will deny it, but those are opinions, not facts. The fact is the Earth’s average temperature is steadily rising along with the amount of carbon dioxide the world emits. There have been more intense storms, strange weather patterns and plenty of evidence large and small to prove it.

But because it’s gradual, it doesn’t generate headlines. No one can draw the direct line from, say, the massive flooding in Tennessee directly to climate change. But there is plenty of evidence to support the theory that it has played a role in natural disasters across the globe.

Perhaps if the headline “Global warming kills 8 in Nashville” were written, it would get some more attention.

Well, the environment is again on front pages. That tends not to be a good thing — environmental reporters tend not to write much about beautiful, sunny days. But in a sense it might not be all bad.

Average Americans are again being reminded of the problems facing our planet and the need to act to prevent further instances like this from happening again. Small consolation, but no less important.

At least now we’ve got your attention.

Eric DuVall is the managing editor of the Tonawanda News. His column appears Wednesdays and Sundays. Contact him at eric.duvall@tonawanda-news.com.