Barack Obama is set to unveil what he calls "the biggest, most important step" ever taken by the US to tackle climate change.
The aim of the US president's revised Clean Power Plan is to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the country's power stations by nearly a third within 15 years, the BBC reports. The plan will particularly focus on wind and solar power and other renewable energy sources.
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Obama added: "My administration will release the final version of America's Clean Power Plan, the biggest, most important step we have ever taken to combat climate change."
Leading figures in the energy industry will oppose the plan and have already vowed to fight it. They describe his measures as "a war on coal". Power plants fired by coal provide more than a third of the US's electricity supply.
A legal battle between federal environmental regulators and coal industry supporters could be lengthy and costly. The National Mining Association said it will seek to block the plan in federal court, Reuters reports. "These [requirements] will burden Americans with increasingly high costs for an essential service and a less reliable electric grid for delivering it," raged Hal Quinn, president of the NMA.
However, Obama is determined to press ahead with the plans. Commentators say he will be hoping that today's announcement will secure his legacy on climate change.