President Barack Obama has laid down a broad new plan to fight climate change, which includes limiting emissions from power plants.
The US president also unveiled plans for an expansion of renewable energy projects, improved flood resilience and calls for an international climate deal.
According to the BBC, speaking at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., Obama said the country needs to act, mocking critics who contended climate change is not a threat.
He said climate change posed an immediate threat, with the 12 hottest years on record all occurring in the past 15 years.
On Tuesday, he reaffirmed his 2009 commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent below 2005 levels by the end of the decade.
Obama's plan includes the first-ever limits on carbon emissions from new and existing power plants.
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These are the single biggest source of carbon pollution, accounting for a third of US greenhouse gas emissions and 40 percent of its carbon output, the report said.
He also called for the US to stop supporting new coal-fired plants abroad.
Obama also announced eight billion dollars in federal loan guarantees to spur investment in green technologies, the report added.