Catholic environmentalist says conservatives cannot 'bury heads in sand' over wildfires

The group, which describes itself as "the first pro-life environmental group" is calling for a move from what Mrs Ath called a "radical green secular environmentalism".

She went on to say conservatives should stop leaving environmental policy to the Left on both sides of the Atlantic, while rejecting what she described as "punitive" net-zero policies.

Mrs Ath told GB News: "I believe it is time for us conservatives to stop burying our heads in the sand, proverbially, and get involved in these conversations and realise this can't be something that is just left to the Left.

"It's time for those who consider them consider themselves conservatives or right of centre to get involved."

When asked how right of centre politicians could get this message across, Mrs Ath said: "I think by starting to to engage in these policy areas through messaging, through introduction of bills, and through that across the aisle bipartisan reform.

"So it's really about identifying issues that are affecting communities and affecting people, and seeing how you can kind of work across the aisle and and get things done.

"So it's once we start building those bridges, and then we can influence more of our free market ideas and and solutions that put people over the planet, not the other way around. I think we'll start seeing some success."

Mrs Ath was quick to point to the devastating wildfires that have struck much of the UK and Europe, plus areas across the US including California.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner recently warned wildfire challenges are “becoming more frequent" after a blaze ripped through Stourbridge in the West Midlands.

Pointing to similar incidents in the US, Mrs Ath said: "California has had a very very difficult time with wildfires in the past few years, and it's unfortunate when you see the devastation for people that are losing their homes,

"But one of the big things is they are not doing proper forest management. You have a lot of people that talk about rewilding, or that human beings, shouldn't be involved in the forest. That we just leave them be.

"But when you do things like that, there's buildup, and when the buildup catches fire, it takes off. So we really need to be actively maintaining our our forests if we want to see a reduction in wildfires."

Drawing on her conservative Catholic background, Mrs Ath pointed to religious justification for caring about the environment.

She told GB News: "I think that's the need for more Christians to really get involved in this environmental space.

"If you look at the Bible and you look at Genesis, God gave human beings dominion over all of creation, not domination. He didn't say 'You're in charge and and just go crazy.' We're supposed to be good stewards of the environment.

"So I think that if you have an ideology that is placing human dignity and care for creation at the centre, that's going to see a lot more success than one that's just placing the planet above all."

Taking aim at climate policy, Mrs Ath criticised Net Zero policies, saying left and right wing governments need to be "realistic" about what can be achieved.

She said: "Wind and solar it's not quite there. So if we're setting these net zero goals, we need to be realistic about what can we do and and what can we work towards.

"I think one of the things President Trump has really been successful at is advocating for what we call 'all of the above energy' because you look at Labour and their 2030 initiatives, and they're talking about solar and wind, what they're pushing, and that's kind of the only options they see as viable.

"But President Trump knows that the technology isn't all there...I don't see any other solution in my mind, besides pursuing President Trump's 'all of the above' policy."

While she approached this topic from a Christian perspective, Mrs Ath said the message of "people first" environmentalism

She said: "We are called to care for creation, and that we need to be doing more to ensure that devastating things like wildfires don't continue to happen, and that we see a reduction through time.

"We need to pursue policies like the all of the above energy, like proper forest maintenance, and that we don't want to see these things continue to happen. That God has called us to care for people.

"He's called us to care for creation, and it's time for Christians to really get involved in this fight."