The presidential campaign season is in full swing, and it’s demonstrated by the never-ending cycle of ads on television. Many voices are raising points against this candidate or that political view, but, in the midst of it all, a very large voice stressing a very important issue is being overshadowed.

In the race for the White House in 2008 and even 2012, the trend for young people was to get behind a single candidate, in this instance Barack Obama. But every new campaign cycle comes with a new set of trends. This time around no single candidate is being overwhelmingly supported by young voters. However, one specific issue is.

Climate change has been on the minds of young voters increasingly over the last few years, according to a new study conducted by Hart Research Associates. In swing states, including Iowa, 78 percent of millennials recognize climate change is a threat.

Recently the Editorial Board had the chance to sit down with NextGen Climate state director Zack Davis to talk about how impactful climate change is for young people. NextGen is a San Francisco-based advocacy organization pushing for politicians to prevent disasters caused by climate change. Its current social media initiative is #50by30, which pushes for 50 percent clean energy by the year 2030.

An important thing to note about NextGen is that it has a presence on college campuses, including Iowa State, and that’s because young people are pushing for more awareness when it comes to the dangers of climate change.

So this presents the question: Why aren’t the candidates recognizing that such a large voting group has latched onto this issue?

Thus far in the 2016 race, the only candidates who have even allowed climate change to be a blip on their radar are the Democrats. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Martin O’Malley have released their plans of action.

Sanders proposed a tax on carbon emissions and eliminating tax breaks for fossil fuel companies, Clinton wants to produce one-third of U.S. electricity using renewable resources by 2027 and O’Malley wishes to modernize the nation’s power-supply grid to support clean energy. Yet from the Republicans we have only heard crickets, and they are missing out on a huge source of votes for their campaign.

It’s important for candidates to recognize that the young voting population is a powerful one, and latching onto an issue that is high on that voting bloc’s priority list could usher him or her into a win in Washington.