In September of 2022, Colorado Springs Utilities officially retired the city’s coal-fired Martin Drake Power Plant 12 years earlier than planned. Notably, this decision reflects current discussions about reducing global greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere. Therefore, in order to understand what factors drove the decision to close the Martin Drake early and to what extent this decision reflects the aspirations of the Paris Agreement, I analyze a focus group discussion with eight activists involved in the closure campaign. I also describe critical observations of the relationship between international and subnational climate action from my time in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, at COP27. I argue that the Colorado Springs community mobilized around health, real estate, and aesthetic concerns to convince the utilities board to close the power plant. Although this decision contributes to decreased carbon emissions in the atmosphere as outlined in the Paris Agreement, the climate treaty played little to no role in expediting the power plant’s closure process. Therefore, I argue my analysis of the power plant’s closure process reflects the disconnect between international and subnational climate policymaking that hinders the effectiveness of global climate treaties such as the Paris Agreement.