Lately, I’ve noticed a disturbing trend over the discussion of environmental issues: that there is no discussion of environmental issues.

It was only four to five years ago that, in the wake of the release of An Inconvenient Truth, climate change became one of the biggest issues in both the USA and the world. Since then, some environmental catastrophe has put energy and the environment in the forefront of American politics–from the record gas prices of 2008 to the 2010 BP oil spill, whose one-year anniversary is quietly nearing.

But since the gusher from the Macondo well was completely stopped on September 19, there has been nothing. Once the well was capped, the problem was quote-unquote solved, and the public mindlessly moved on to Prince William’s wedding, 3D TV, and, of course, Charlie Sheen.

But the obliviousness to our imperiled environment isn’t just limited to the philistine public; it’s just as bad, if not worse among our supposed leaders. From the recent absence of talk about regulations for energy, pollution, and consumption, you would never guess that the environment was one of the issues that swept Barack Obama into the White House three years ago. While President Obama’s environmental record is certainly preferable to his predecessor’s, it doesn’t nearly live up the standard our planet needs and that the American people voted for in the 2008 election. The president’s apparent unwillingness to get tough leaves us with an uninspiring energy plan and a deteriorating environment.

On the legislative side of things, we have spineless Democratic leadership in the Senate and, well, a complete lack of leadership in the solidly Republican House. Not only are the House Republicans trying to quietly de-fang the EPA (at least, before Obama convinced them that historically cutting New Deal and Great Society programs was a better idea), they’ve somehow convinced the American public that the budget deficit is the greatest threat to our children and grandchildren–not a world with more extreme weather events, longer and greater droughts, rising seas, and a loss of biodiversity. Worse yet, the the 112th Congress is wasting its time with discretionary spending and Planned Parenthood’s funding instead of addressing pressing issues–environmental or not.

And sure, we’re dealing with an economy still recovering from a recession and an enormous financial crisis. I get it; everything else kind of takes a back seat. But the Earth’s loss of biodiversity, the depletion of fisheries, overconsumption, and climate change are still pretty important. No issue is important enough to be dealt with on a 24/7 basis, but geez, you’d think we would at least be talking about the environment a little bit right now–but we’re not. So if not now, then when?