The EPA’s proposed rollback of Obama-era limits on greenhouse gases emitted by coal-fired plants is drawing opposition from health and environmental groups.

At issue: Carbon Pollution Standards for New, Modified and Reconstructed Power Plants, enacted in 2015, which were intended to slow climate change and reduce its effects. Energy providers have denounced the standards as being difficult to comply with.

Acting EPA administrator said the changes would lift “unfair burdens on America’s energy providers” and make energy prices more affordable.

In response, the American Public Health Association, the American Lung Association, Allergy & Asthma Network, Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, American Academy of Pediatrics, Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Center for Climate Change and Health, Children’s Environmental Health Network, Health Care Without Harm, Medical Society Consortium on Climate & Health, National Association of County and City Health Officials, National Medical Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Public Health Institute issued the following statement:

"Actively pursuing efforts to weaken carbon pollution limits on new power plants is moving in the wrong direction. There is a clear, scientific consensus that addressing climate change is a critically urgent health need."

The statement went on to say  that the proposal is a "major threat to the health of all Americans, particularly those most vulnerable."