Barack Obama has warned that no challenge poses a greater threat to humanity's future than climate change.

In unveiling a new plan to tackle greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired powered stations, the US President said there was a compelling argument to take strong and immediate action.

"We’re the first generation to feel the impact of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it," he said.

"There is such a thing as being too late when it comes to climate change. We only get one home. We only get one planet."

The revised Clean Power Plan will demand carbon emissions be cut by 32% from 2005 levels by 2030.

It will also encourage a shift towards renewable energy sources including wind and solar energy.

Industry groups and some politicians from states which rely on coal-based energy have vowed to challenge the plan, which is expected to trigger a legal battle between regulators and coal industry supporters.

Mr Obama acknowledged there would be opposition to his plan, but he rejected criticism it would increase energy bills for Americans, hurt the poor, or cost jobs.

"This is the right thing to do," he said.

"This is going to be hard. No single action, no single country, will change the warming of the planet on its own.

"(But) when the world faces its toughest challenges, America leads the way forward - that’s what this plan is all about."

Over the weekend, Mr Obama released a video titled A Memo To America, in which he urged people to get behind the government's actions.

"If you believe like I do that we can't condemn our kids and grandkids to a planet that's beyond fixing, then I'm asking you to share this message with your friends and family," he said.

On Sunday, the National Mining Association (NMA) said it would seek to block the plan in federal court.

Hal Quin, president of the NMA, said: "These will burden Americans with increasingly high costs for an essential service and a less reliable electric grid for delivering it."

Opponents are also expected to argue that low income homes will bear the heaviest burden to comply with the regulation.

The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association said it predicted the Clean Power Plan will cause electricity prices to rise at least 10%.

The White House has said the plan is "the starting gun for an all-out climate push" by Mr Obama and his cabinet.

If implemented, it would see coal's share of electricity production in the US drop to 27% by 2030. As of last year, it accounted for 39%, according to the Department of Energy.

Natural gas, which constitutes 30% of electricity production, would remain largely the same while renewable energy would increase 6% to 28%.

The proposal is a vital part of the US meeting pledges on cuts to greenhouse emissions ahead of global climate change agreement negotiations in Paris later this year.

Washington has promised to cut gas emissions by 26 to 28% below 2005 levels by 2025.