US is not the problem, it is all those developing countries, the US is doing better than most other countries and in practice there is no "flipflopping". There is a balance between economy and measurements that need to be taken and it is not entirely clear that making people poorer for a small immediate gain is always the right policy. See what happen now in France regarding diesel prices. Rich countries take better care of the environment, sometimes it is better to invest in making the country rich rather than a tax on diesel fuel.