1.2 million.
That’s the number of American citizens who rank climate change as their top issue but didn’t vote in the 2024 election, according to research by the Environmental Voter Project. For context, Donald Trump won the presidency in 2024 by less than 2.3 million votes.
For a little over a decade, EVP has been working to get these climate-first Americans to the polls. Over the years, through canvassing, phonebanking, and postcard writing, they’ve helped turn 2.2 million climate-first nonvoters into voters who consistently show up at the polls every election, for candidates at every level of government.
“We work in [21] states because we feel that there are important gains that the climate movement can make, not just at the federal level, but the state and local level there,” Nathaniel Stinnett, the founder and executive director of EVP told CCNow in an interview.
This year, EVP is getting help from Patagonia. In September, the outdoor apparel company launched The 11.2 Million Vote Project offering a $100 credit to 112,000 people who signed up three of their friends to encourage them to vote. The coupons were snapped up in just four days. (The tool is still live for folks who want to nudge their friends.)
So why don’t these people who care so much about climate change vote with that issue in mind? It turns out, many people still falsely think that the top two most effective actions they can take to combat climate change are to recycle and change their consumer habits, according to recent EVP polling. “For 30 years, the fossil fuel industry has been teaching us to ignore the coal-fired power plant back there and instead just obsess over the plastic water bottles in our hands,” says Stinnett. “So, of course the public feels this way.”
“Everybody is failing climate concerned Americans in not helping them realize that this is a systemic political problem that requires systemic political solutions,” says Stinnett. “It’s not just about buying the right clothes and eating like climate-friendly donuts, or whatever. It’s about taking political action.”
This election season, Stinnett’s looking closely at governors’ races. “This is where energy affordability and data center politics collide,” says Stinnett. “Lots of press will be looking at Congress, but governors are in the crosshairs where, when it comes to voter anger and fear over data centers, governors typically have enormous control over utility regulation and rate setting, like Georgia.”
The public needs journalism that illuminates the most effective climate solutions — by asking candidates about their climate policy positions and reporting on which elected officials are living up to their campaign pledges — helping Americans to connect the dots between their ballots and climate action.
– Theresa Riley, CCNow’s Audience Editor