Barack Obama talked up the health benefits of his climate plan on Saturday, saying cuts to carbon pollution would reduce asthma attacks by 100,000 and heart attacks by 2,100 just in the first year.



The president, speaking in his weekly address, said cutting carbon pollution from the country's power plants would avoid a growing health threat to the most vulnerable Americans, children and the elderly.



“We don’t have to choose between the health of our economy and the health of our children,” he said. “As president, and as a parent, I refuse to condemn our children to a planet that’s beyond fixing.”



The new Environment Protection Agency power plant rules – the first to cut emissions from the country's 1,600 power plants – will be unveiled on Monday. The regulations will cut carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 25%, according to those familiar with the plan.



In the run-up to the announcement, the White House has tried to frame climate change as a personal threat, highlighting the risk to public health and national security.

Obama held a number of climate-themed events, including the visit to an asthma ward at the Children's National Medical Centre in Washington DC, where he recorded the address.



Scientists have linked a risk in asthma and other respiratory diseases to worsening air pollution under climate change.



The new EPA plans would regulate carbon dioxide emissions from existing coal-fired power plants. Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images Photograph: Mark Wilson/Getty Images

He also stopped in at the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Fema) to get a look at hurricane preparedness.



Earlier in the week, Obama told cadets at West Point that climate change was “a creeping national security crisis”.



But the main emphasis was on health. Obama said the new rules would cut down on soot and smog, as well as carbon dioxide emissions. That would help thousands of Americans, he said.



“In just the first year that these standards go into effect, up to 100,000 asthma attacks and 2,100 heart attacks will be avoided – and those numbers will go up from there,” he said.



He dismissed criticism of the plan from business lobbies and conservative groups as the “warnings of the cynics” who have generally opposed environmental protections.



“They warned that doing something about the smog choking our cities, and acid rain poisoning our lakes, would kill business,” he said. “It didn't.”



Obama will amplify his message about the health benefits of his climate plan on Monday in a conference call with the American Lung Association and medical groups.



There is growing evidence of the health risks under climate change. Warmer temperatures cook the smog that aggravates asthma and other illnesses.

Obama says 'up to 100,000 asthma attackas and 2,100 heart attacks will be avoided' by new rules. Photograph: Voisin/Phanize/Rex Features Photograph: Voisin / Phanize / Rex Features/Voisin / Phanie / Rex Features

Scientists from Harvard and Syracuse universities released a study this week saying cuts to carbon pollution would avoid thousands of premature deaths from heart attacks and respiratory illnesses.



The president will not personally release the plan. That job falls to Gina McCarthy, the administrator of the EPA, which wrote the new rules.



But the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, told reporters on Friday the White House was deeply invested in the new rules. “I think we own this,” he said.



The new regulations are the core pillar of Obama's climate plan, unveiled in a speech at Georgetown University in June last year. The president said at the time he would bypass Congress and use his executive authority to act on climate change.



The rules would for the first time put a limit on carbon pollution from the country's 1,600 power plants, responsible for nearly 40% of America's carbon dioxide emissions.



Obama is the first US president to try to cut carbon pollution from power plants, and there is speculation the move could help break open global climate negotiations.



But business groups and conservative think tanks have already squared up to challenge the new regulations, politically and in the courts.



Campaign groups said the White House anticipated the pushback, and had been working on developing an effective message and political strategy for the climate plan roll-out.



“There's no question that they've learned from past battles and they've put together the team to do this and they've been meeting with everyone who is interested, whether that's business groups or environmental groups,” David Goldston, director of government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told a briefing this week.

