I sometimes wonder if MSW reads the publication he writes for.  Everyone raise your hand if you have seen umpteen dozens of articles in NCR about dioceses, parishes, universities, regional groups, individual-Catholic groups, religious orders and conferences, plus scads of lay individuals, who have made and promoted significant and often costly change favorable to environmental causes.  Yet, according to MSW's opinion, there was no "wave of Catholic activism" in 2016.  

Maybe NCR just isn't intellectual enough to grab his attention (or perhaps it's just not quoted enough by his contemporary literary idols).