[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/06/24/deepwater.horizon.gi.art.jpg caption="An explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform on April 20, 2010."]
By Bob Ruff and Carol Costello, CNN
(CNN) – Americans have experienced their share of large scale environmental disasters. A few stand out:
-The 19th Century had the Johnstown Flood.
-The 20th Century had the Dust Bowl.
Today, we have the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which may prove to be even worse than its predecessors. While they are loathe to say it, some environmentalists wonder if this is the disaster that finally persuades Americans that the environment is important enough to change the way we live our lives.
Will this disaster, as big as it is, give birth to something as groundbreaking as Earth Day? Or the Clean Air Act?
One movement, "Hands Across the Sand,” is banking on it. Back in February, it drew 10,000 Floridians to join hands on clean beaches to protest offshore oil drilling—and that was BEFORE the Deepwater Horizon exploded.
This weekend, "Hands" says it is going international. 599 American cities will take part along with 20 nations.
David Rauschkolb is the founder of “Hands Across the Sand.” He told us it’s “a huge opportunity for us and it's time that we take control of our energy future.” Watch 
Sound familiar?
Back in1970, “Earth Day” promised to put the environment front and center in the public’s consciousness. It was born just a year after the Santa Barbara Oil spill, which also captured the nation’s attention. The Santa Barbara spill even brought President Nixon to inspect the oily beaches there. In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was created.
What about now?
Environmental groups are hoping to recruit new members and encourage the public to push Congress and the president to clean up the environment and, once and for all, move the nation away from fossil fuels. The Clean Energy Works Campaign has launched an ad campaign pushing for Clean Energy legislation. Greenpeace is using the spill as catalyst too, encouraging its members to join a contest to “re-brand” the BP logo. They’ve attracted half-a-million visitors to its Web site.
The Sierra Club's site is hot too, after Rush Limbaugh blamed environmentalists for forcing on-shore drilling off-shore. Limbaugh said on his radio show, “When do we ask the Sierra Club to pick up the tab for this leak?” The club used Limbaugh's comments to raise $120,000 dollars and 110,000 signatures for climate legislation.
The Sierra Club’s president, Michael Brune, told us, “This is our chance to actually move beyond oil. And the outstanding question, the question that remains, is whether or not President Obama will seize this opportunity and get us off oil once and for all.”
While all the passion sounds good for, what critics would call, tree-huggers - is it real? Psychologist Jeff Gardere says, while oiled birds, dirtied beaches and black tides will raise awareness, it may not last. After all, there are government regulators already in place who are supposed to prevent disasters like this, and didn't. So, why bother?
Environmentalists get that, but say this disaster will cut through the cynicism.
Brune told us, “We've set the ocean on fire. We've put thousands of fishermen and women out of work. The coastal tourism economy is collapsing. And all of this is happening in slow motion.”
Perhaps our complicated relationship with the environment is perfectly illustrated in the Gulf. While fishermen and those who make their money off the beauty of the land are incensed at BP, few of them want to see offshore drilling or America's dependence on oil decrease. They need oil too to fuel the Gulf's economy.
What do you think? Will this environmental disaster diminish our reliance on oil?