I'm unclear how his 'green' polemics... would qualify as traditional beliefs (either lower case 't' or capital 'T')
I don't see how they don't. What's un-traditional about them -- about opposing the degradation of the land and believing that it should be preserved and respected ? (For the record, I don't believe in anthropogenic climate change and so forth.) Anyway, the idea that man is no longer the steward of Our Lord's creation is new; the Enlightenment and, before that, the Renaissance, certainly seem to have created a fissure between man and nature, whereas before there seems to be an instinctive respect and love for the land and the animals, which God made, since it is necessary for them to be healthy for mankind's survival and flourishing and because their health constitute the working order of God's creation as well the way by which He shows us many of His mysteries and His beauty.
In the Middle Ages, it was a commonplace to say that the Scriptures and Creation were "the two garments of the Divinity." Since the rise of urban living as the Middle Ages passed into corruption and eventually devolved into the Renaissance, forests and nature -- which the Benedictines, Carmelites, and Franciscans saw as places of meditation --
were no longer seen as imbued with holy mysteries that can be learned if one is quiet enough and of a sufficiently upright heart; no, now the forests and animals were considered terrible and stupid, a giant resource machine that can be manipulated arbitrarily for man's profit and which, otherwise, is threatening and cursed, in need of being plowed up or else turned into a town, where 'reason' and 'order' alone prevail. (Notice that the order of nature itself is no longer appreciated, but it requires a man of a sufficiently humanistic background to give nature the order it needs.)
The early Romans revered natured, but as the cities grew and the Roman republic was succeeded by the Empire, the old Roman ethic of reverence was replaced with hatred for the land. This, precisely -- as well as the nominalism and Jansenism that saw nothing but corruption and disorder in nature -- is the belief system that rose again with the Renaissance, Protestantism, Jansenism, Scientism, Enlightenment, and the Industrial Revolution. It has led to the utter destruction of most lands and their replacement with mills and factories and dams; fresh food has been manipulated and treated with chemicals, and the natural balance of things has been scorned. Now, the great masters of nature -- who believe themselves separate from it rather than the stewards who sit at the top of the hierarchy but indeed are embedded within it -- have immune systems that are not functioning properly because of antibiotics and preservatives in their food, or else the great conquerors are obese and cannot even accomplish basic functions that, in a less luxurious setting, would be required for survival. (The prospect of widespread power failure and lack of antibiotics -- or a virulent epidemic that has adapted to be immune to antibiotics -- drive this point home.)
Anyway, the laws of nature -- which are expressions of Holy Wisdom -- cannot be ignored. The longer they are, the more those who ignore them go into nature's debt. One day, she will collect. It would be better for man to realise his limitations, and place himself once again within the bounds of the natural order which Our Lord has set for him. Otherwise, man in his pride will only secure for himself future death and destruction and chaos. Already having cut himself off from the beauty of the sacramental universe except, perhaps, in an abstract and academic sort of way, it follows that the disorder he has sown will be used to humble him through an equally serious punishment.
If that is not a traditional attitude, I don't know what is. To the extent that Charles shares those sentiments, I don't see how he is being 'un-traditional.' His enthusiasm for population control, on the other hand, is a different story.
Prophecy of Daniel Chapter III
[57] All ye works of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [58] O ye angels of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [59] O ye heavens, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [60] O all ye waters that are above the heavens, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all for ever.
[61] O all ye powers of the Lord, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [62] O ye sun and moon, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [63] O ye stars of heaven, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [64] O every shower and dew, bless ye the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [65] O all ye spirits of God, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
[66] O ye fire and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [67] O ye cold and heat, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [68] O ye dews and hoar frosts, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [69] O ye frost and cold, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [70] O ye ice and snow, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
[71] O ye nights and days, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [72] O ye light and darkness, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [73] O ye lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [74] O let the earth bless the Lord: let it praise and exalt him above all for ever. [75] O ye mountains and hills, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
[76] O all ye things that spring up in the earth, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [77] O ye fountains, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [78] O ye seas and rivers, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [79] O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [80] O all ye fowls of the air, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever.
[81] O all ye beasts and cattle, bless the Lord: praise and exalt him above all for ever. [82] O ye sons of men, bless the Lord, praise and exalt him above all for ever.