You don’t need to read one of the United Nations’ many reports on climate change to know our world is hurting. Whether you’ve stayed indoors to avoid wildfire-driven air pollution or you’re concerned about drought conditions, a changing climate is already impacting our daily lives in Colorado.

Earlier this month, Colorado took a big step in the right direction on this issue when the Colorado Public Utilities Commission approved a clean energy plan from Xcel Energy. Under the agreement supported by a wide variety of interests, by 2030, 80% of the electricity Xcel Energy delivers to its Colorado customers will come from renewable energy. In addition, Colorado’s largest utility will slash its carbon dioxide pollution emissions by roughly 85% (compared to 2005).

For several rural communities, that also means an aggressive timetable for ending coal-powered generation as well. When coal is retired at Xcel Energy’s remaining plants in Routt, Pueblo and Morgan Counties –  it will mark the end of coal-powered electricity in Colorado, and the agreement also addresses a just transition for those communities.

So how did we get here?

It’s taken creative thinking and planning from a cross-section of Gov. Jared Polis’s team and stakeholders with an eye toward designing a deal that can be a difference maker for our state.

A starting point for this agreement was the Polis administration’s Greenhouse Gas Pollution Reduction Roadmap, which was developed pursuant to the state’s requirements to drastically cut Colorado’s climate change-causing greenhouse gas emissions by rethinking the way we approach everything from energy generation to transportation.

From there, the stakeholders used the roadmap as a springboard for even more ambitious goals. Through open-minded negotiations between a diverse group of interested parties – Xcel Energy, customers of the utility, the Polis administration, city and county leaders, labor groups and environmental organizations – the utility agreed to lower emissions by approximately 14.7 million more tons than was originally proposed over the next decade. That’s comparable to taking an additional 290,000 gas-fueled cars off the road each and every year until 2030. This agreement will also mean cleaner skies and healthier air for all Coloradans.

Beyond that big win, we knew that this process would only work if it was done with a transition that’s fair to workers and communities. To that end, Xcel Energy, with substantial input from such key players as local community leaders and Colorado’s equity-focused Office of Just Transition, fashioned a solution that reduces emissions and provides a sustainable future for workers and citizens by providing long-term investment and workforce opportunities in impacted communities.

That means covering lost property taxes in each of the impacted counties for local revenue not otherwise offset by new innovative clean energy solutions. The agreement on the transition also represents an opportunity to deliver on the promise of well-paid clean energy jobs for workers hardest hit, but it must be implemented by giving full consideration to Best Value Employment Metrics consistent with state law, which can ensure high-quality jobs through training and apprenticeship programs, employment of Colorado workers, long-term career opportunities, and good wages and benefits. The Polis administration is committed to effectively implementing laws that are designed to protect workers affected by this transition.

Some may believe that a large utility, the Polis administration, leaders from rural Colorado who have built their economic stability around these historic coal plants, labor organizers and environmental advocacy groups would struggle to come up with this plan. But this agreement is an example of the Colorado way: Working together to find approaches that work for all.

As Coloradans, we all care deeply about the future of Colorado and our planet, and we all believe that we can leave coal in our past – and that this change, which is an opportunity to build a cleaner economy and give workers a fair shot – doesn’t have to happen at the expense of ensuring well-paid jobs, putting food on the table or paying rent.

With this Xcel Energy clean energy plan, Colorado is moving closer to this goal, and we look forward to continuing to invest wisely and enact policies that make the grid more resilient for the climate stresses we are already seeing.

Will Toor is the executive director of the Colorado Energy Office. Hollie Velasquez Horvath is regional vice president, state and community relations, for Xcel Energy. Noah Long is director, western region, climate & clean energy program, at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Gary Arnold is the business manager of Denver Pipefitters Local #208 and president of the Rocky Mountain Environmental Labor Coalition.

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