Gray is the New Green: The Growing Strength of Older Climate Voters (2025)

The Environmental Voter Project (EVP) released a new report highlighting key findings about older climate voters in 20 states where EVP has built predictive models identifying voters who are likely to rank “climate change” or “clean air, clean water, and the environment” as their top political priority. 

Some of the key takeaways from the report include:

• Americans aged 65+ make up the largest percentage of climate-first voters. More than one-third (34.3%) of voters who are likely to consider “climate change” or “clean air, clean water, and the environment” as their top issue priority are aged 65+, far outpacing 35–49 year-olds (26.4%), 50–64 year-olds (20.5%), and 18–34 year-olds (18.8%).
• 18–34 year-old voters — particularly young men — are much less likely to prioritize climate than that age group was two years ago. In 2023, the Environmental Voter Project studied 18 states and found that 29.7% of young voters were likely to list climate or the environment as their top priority, but that number has since plummeted to 7.7% in 2025, and only 5.4% of young men are now identified as Climate Voters.
• The Potential Electoral Impact of Older Climate Voters in the 2026 Midterms. Older Climate Voters have particularly high turnout rates in midterm elections, with public voter files showing that climate-first voters aged 65+ could make up 7.2% of the Arizona midterm electorate, 7.4% of the Pennsylvania midterm electorate, and 7.5% of the New Hampshire midterm electorate.

The report also highlights who these voters are:

•  Older Climate Voters are disproportionately female, but gender is less predictive of climate support than it is among younger voters. 15.8% of female voters aged 65+ are climate-first voters, compared to 12.2% of older male voters, but this 3.6pt gap is smaller than the 4.7pt gender gap among 18–34yo Climate Voters and the 5.4pt gender gap among 35–49yo Climate Voters. In all age groups, women are more likely than men to be climate-first voters.
• White women make up a majority of older Climate Voters. In the 20 states studied, white women make up 42.0% of all registered voters aged 65+, but they represent a disproportionately large 51.2% of Climate Voters aged 65+.