(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) said at her press briefing on Thursday that she wants to “salute” the Green New Deal and went on to explain that “as a Catholic” she believes—“as do many of our Evangelical friends”—that we have a responsibility to be good stewards of creation.

“And it is a moral issue,” Pelosi said. “We all have a responsibility to pass this planet on to future generations in a responsible way.

“I myself, as a Catholic, believe, as do many of our evangelical friends and the rest who share our belief, that this is God’s creation and that we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of it,” she said.

“So, this is a very high priority,” Pelosi said.

Here is an excerpt from the transcript of Pelosi’s press conference where she talked about how being a Catholic informed her environmentalist views:

I do want to salute the Green Deal in this respect – not the particulars, because we have to take it one at a time – but in the respect of again raising the profile of an issue, which is a challenge generationally: to preserve this planet.

It’s a health issue, a public health issue in terms of clean air, clean water.

It’s a jobs issue in terms of the United States being preeminent in green technologies throughout the world.

It’s a national security issue. Just read what our national security experts have to say – generals, admirals, again, national security experts – have to say about the challenge to global security that the climate crisis is presenting.

And it is a moral issue. We all have a responsibility to pass this planet on to future generations in a responsible way.

I myself, as a Catholic, believe, as do many of our evangelical friends and the rest who share our belief, that this is God’s creation and that we have a moral responsibility to be good stewards of it.

So, this is a very high priority. As you may not know, it was my flagship issue when I was Speaker the first time. So, I welcome any enthusiasms in that regard. But as we legislate, we will go through committee to see what the best possible approach is.

I wish you all a very happy St. Patrick’s Day.