I wonder are demographics a factor, here. While I'm not sure about the US, in this part of the world the worst visible impacts of pollution peaked in the 50s to early 60s (the Great Smog of London, which killed 4,000 people at the very least and likely over 10,000, was in 1952, for instance). Most voters today probably haven't seen significant personal impact from pollution, so it might not be as frightening.

That said, it also does seem like this narrative of "regulation is ruining everything", as a sort of objection to regulation as a concept without reference to what the regulation is regulation, has seen an uptick recently, between Trumpism and Brexit.