Of course, all countries currently inflict some costs on the environment, but I had the long view in mind. I was comparing ancient and medieval regimes to modern ones. What accelerated progress in dominating nature was classic liberalism and the rise of early modernity. In the march of technological advances, liberal modernity has influenced all current powerful nations, including the closed dictatorships. What accelerated this kind of progress was individualistic, liberal modernity, and the ideal of our freedom to create meaning.
I've written many articles on liberalism, progress, and the relation between nature and artificiality. I don't try to demonstrate everything in each article.
Obviously, there's an environmental movement in liberal societies, but those societies are internally conflicted since environmentalism conflicts with capitalism and consumerism.
