That's just the nature of the beast, everything is politicized. Especially when the corporate profits are on the line, or when the religion is involved. But this again goes both ways, many extreme environmentalists are cult like and would gladly destroy the economy in the name of greater good (which would turn out not so great).
Plus, in the US the politics tend to be full of drama and people who are not afraid to make completely outrageous, ridiculous statements. European politicians are more suave and more willing to talk about saving the planet. More willing to push their policies an extra step, too, i'll give them that. But you don't see them making any one sided extreme moves either, it's not like Norway or Scotland stopped drilling oil in the Atlantic. They are greener than US in their policies but they also tend to have more pollution per cubic meter due to the higher density of population and industry, and European countries are very urbanized, which is not good for the environment.