Environmental groups have spent an unprecedented $85 million on the 2014 midterms. Billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer has donated at least $50 million to green groups through his super PAC NextGen Climate Action, making him the single-largest known donor this election cycle. (Unlike conservative activists Charles and David Koch’s contributions to political nonprofits—Steyer’s donations are fully disclosed.)

And yet, it appears that all this money failed to make the environment a top priority. “Climate change is like an afterthought in the wider message, which is a tacit admission that on its own it doesn't move the dial," Republican strategist Josh Penry told Reuters. “It is very difficult to find an issue that voters place lower on the list than climate change,” GOP pollster Whit Ayres told the New York Times. “It vies with gay marriage and campaign finance reform as the least important issue. Most voters care about jobs, economic growth, health care and immigration.”

Green groups will also likely fail to elect candidates sympathetic toward climate issues. Half of green groups' $85 million has gone to Senate races (in New Hampshire, Iowa, Colorado, Alaska, North Carolina, and Michigan) where Democrats might lose. If Senator Mitch McConnell’s becomes Majority Leader, one of his top priorities is environmental deregulation. So it’s easy to call environmentalists’ strategy this year a total failure.

But the calculus is not that simple. Climate change may not be the top issue this cycle. Green groups may not see their preferred candidates winning any close contests. But the unprecedented spending has kept Republicans off-balance. And it has shown that environmentalists are adapting their message for an electorate that is growing.

Though not the issue, the environment was an issue in many races, especially in Colorado, New Hampshire, and Florida—and candidates were forced to at least acknowledge it. During the Colorado campaign, for example, NextGen ran ads like this one, which begins with a narrator saying, “He thinks he knows better than the scientists, NASA, and the U.S. military on climate change”: