Studies show that climate issues are some of the most important issues for youth voters in the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE), a research center on youth civic engagement, surveyed young people across the nation on their likelihood to vote and what issues they prioritize for the upcoming election. 

“Young people… are saying that they’re prioritizing climate because over 60% of them report that they view it as a serious threat,” Jennifer McAndrew, director of communications, strategy and planning at the Tisch College of Civil Life at Tufts University, said. “Nearly three-quarters say that their communities have experienced or been affected by climate change in some way.”

The survey found that young people who say climate is their top issue are 20 percentage points more likely to vote than other young people. The climate change issue was a huge factor in terms of which candidate will receive support. Within the group of young people prioritizing climate issues, 65% said they would support the Democratic candidate while only 5% said they would support the Republican. 

“In our pre-election polling, 72% of young people who chose [to address] climate change as among their top three issues said that they were extremely likely to vote,” McAndrew said. “And that is slightly higher than some of the other issues, like abortion or gun violence in terms of likelihood to vote.” 

The survey found that many young people prioritize climate issues because it has personally affected them. Forty-two percent of young people said they faced poor air quality, 41% said they faced unusually hot temperatures and 24% said they experienced severe hurricanes or floods. 

About half of the survey’s participants said they had not heard much of the federal government’s actions on climate.

“So I think what you’re seeing with that is that there’s a significant information gap among young voters in this area, or an opportunity… for campaigns and advocacy organizations to be reaching them with information around addressing climate change,” McAndrew said.

The New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV), an environmentalist political action committee, has an education fund allocating funds to inform people about climate issues to raise awareness and encourage political action. 

“We often say here: the most important thing you can do for the environment and to affect environmental policy is to vote,” Devin Callahan, the group’s communications director, said. “So we are constantly out there educating people on the issues.”

The NYCLV’s “Our Vote is Our Power” campaign encourages low-propensity voters to vote and raise awareness of environmental issues. The group is also partnering with Power to the Polls with the goal of having more youth involved in the polling process. 

The group aims to raise support for renewable energy and a transition to electric school buses.

“We’re looking to increase transmission, increase renewable energy development, and make sure the buildings we live and work in, the cars and buses we drive in, are able to run on clean electric energy,” Callahan said.

In 2023, New York state saw its hottest year on record, floods that damaged New York City’s subway systems and parks as well as tremendous smog from wildfires in Canada. 

“The notion that we might be protected by location or virtue of something else from the impacts of climate change has certainly gone out the window,” Callahan said. “I think you can see what a future would look like if we don’t take the actions we need to know. And I think that will serve to drive turnout of the polls.”

The group is using its resources to influence a huge youth voter turnout because of how strongly young voters feel about climate change presently.

“I would say there’s the time left they have and there is a long future ahead of them that could be altered greatly if we don’t take action on climate change,” Callahan said. “And I think that’s really the urgency of the crisis and the impact starting to come down is really what’s going to drive the passion and the turnout.”

The NYLCV has not yet released their endorsements for the upcoming presidential election, but they should be announcing them to the public in the coming weeks.

Photo by: Matthew Galgano