Over the next 19 months, there is plenty McAuliffe can and should do to ensure he leaves the climate and clean energy legacy he was elected to fulfill back in 2013 when voters had a choice between him and a candidate who believed climate change was a myth, despite the very real impacts we’re seeing in Virginia.

In just the past several months, McAuliffe has taken historic steps forward in combatting climate change and pushing clean energy solutions. The 2016 General Assembly was a good case in point. Gov. McAuliffe bucked some members of his own party in the legislature to successfully veto an extension of ineffective coal industry handouts, a significant shift in policy in a traditionally coal-driven state.

He also used his veto power to ward off legislative attacks on Clean Power Plan implementation in Virginia, making good on a pledge he made at the outset of session to reject measures that impede his ability to react and respond to the growing threat of climate change.

In fact, ever since the final rule was announced in August, McAuliffe has worked to make sure state-level work on the Clean Power Plan goes forward, even pledging to stay the course while this plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants is held up in the courts. On this point, especially, McAuliffe deserves credit from environmentalists: He is among only a handful of governors across the nation that pledged to move forward and is the only southern governor to do so.

Let me be clear: There are aspects of McAuliffe’s energy platform that we do disagree with. For example, we oppose Dominion Power’s massive natural gas infrastructure project, which presents serious risks to natural, historic and cultural resources across a large swath of the Commonwealth. There are also serious economic risks with this plan. If and when natural gas prices increase, Virginia ratepayers will be on the hook for billions of dollars of stranded costs from pipeline infrastructure and gas-fired power plants.

But rather than fixate on points of disagreement, we have put our energy into working with the administration on the clean energy policies where we are on the same page.

We’ve been by McAuliffe’s side as his administration defended our state’s moratorium on uranium mining, a stance that earned him the distinction of “defendant” in a recent lawsuit.

We also stood by him as he worked to advance renewable energy sources in the Commonwealth. He’s done this through executive action, pledging to increase the state’s use of renewable-sourced electricity – and to use less of it, overall, through increased energy efficiency – and also by working to court the industries that both generate and consume these clean energy sources. He has also pushed budget measures to advance solar development. The end result of these efforts is a tenfold increase in the solar power that we have online in Virginia since McAuliffe has been in office with even more renewable energy projects on the horizon.

The truth is there is only so much McAuliffe, or any other sitting governor, can accomplish without a willing legislature. This goes for hot-button issues like Medicare expansion as well as environmental causes. Unfortunately, Virginia lawmakers have grown increasingly hostile toward clean energy and climate change solutions, as evidenced by the growing number of good bills that die each year, often without a recorded vote.

Virginia LCV invested heavily in Governor McAuliffe in 2013 and we still stand by that decision. The governor has laid a strong foundation on clean energy and fighting climate change, but there’s definitely still more work to do.

If there is a place for our governor to secure his legacy as a champion on climate change, it’s by implementing a strong Clean Power Plan strategy in Virginia that cuts climate-disrupting pollution, covers new and existing sources, and advances clean energy. With a full court panel ruling on the CPP earlier than expected, this can and should be accomplished during his term.

McAuliffe has until the end of 2017 to shape this legacy. We are confident the mark he leaves on the commonwealth will be a green one.