Climate change is not an abstract hypothetical danger that might affect only faraway places. It’s real, and it’s happening now. The year 2015 was the hottest globally in recorded history, and 2014 was the hottest before that. This has helped produce a long list of extreme weather disasters.

Climate scientists have made it clear that burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of our warming and destabilizing climate and that we must make deep cuts in emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to preserve a livable world. In December, nearly 200 countries across the planet, including the United States, agreed to do just that at the global climate conference in Paris. But to make good on the promises, we’ve got to shift as quickly as possible to clean sources of energy to power our lives.

Among all sources of climate change pollution in the United States, the largest contributors are fossil fuel-fired power plants, which produce about a third of the nation’s emissions. That’s why the Environmental Protection Agency has put forth a Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants for the first time.

Reducing pollution from dirty power plants would have many immediate health benefits. Kids living near coal-fired power plants suffer from high rates of asthma caused by breathing smog and particle pollution.

Scientific studies estimate that by reducing carbon and other pollutants from coal-fired power plants, the Clean Power Plan will save thousands of lives per year, and prevent 150,000 asthma attacks. An EPA study found that cutting greenhouse gas emissions would prevent nearly 70,000 premature American deaths annually by the end of the century.

There is no real downside, and a whole lot of upside, to powering our lives with clean energy. A study by the U.S. Department of Energy found that state renewable energy policies in one year supported nearly 200,000 well-paying clean energy jobs, generated over $7 billion in public health and related benefits, reduced power plant water use by 27 billion gallons and saved customers over $1 billion from lower wholesale electricity prices. What’s not to love?

Under the Clean Power Plan, Colorado is allowed to devise its own strategy for producing power with less harmful pollution. Whether by increasing energy efficiency or increasing renewable energy sources, Colorado decision-makers will have many choices for how to meet our electricity needs in ways that are affordable, reliable and that don’t imperil our kids.

Unfortunately, big coal and other fossil fuel interests, together with their allies in Congress and statehouses across the country, are aggressively working to block the Clean Power Plan through lawsuits and legislation. A misguided bill that would stop the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment from developing a Colorado clean power plan for two years, while allowing politicians to micromanage the program, is expected to be reintroduced in the Colorado Legislature soon.

Considering the current and growing threat posed by climate change, stopping or delaying action is a high-risk gamble with our children’s future. As a mother deeply concerned about the world that our children are inheriting from us, I find that completely unacceptable. Rather than delaying action, Colorado should develop a strong clean power plan as soon as possible, and take advantage of a clean energy incentive program that provides tangible benefits to states that develop renewable energy and energy efficiency projects sooner than required.

Polls have shown that large majorities of Americans, across party lines, support new limits on carbon pollution from power plants and policies to bolster clean energy production.  Colorado has been a clean energy leader, and the Clean Power Plan provides us a golden opportunity to accelerate our transition toward the renewable energy future that our kids need and deserve.

____________________________________________________________________________