( CNN ) -- The debate on climate change is over . Scientists are now as certain that climate change is a real , man-made threat as they are that cigarettes kill . But cleaning up our air has much more to it than combating shifts in Earth 's temperatures and environment . The administration 's new pollution standards -- new Environmental Protection Agency regulations that place tough limits on emissions from coal-fired power plants -- are an answered prayer for working families . I 'm talking about those many families who endured damaged homes or lost work hours from our more frequent , and more severe , extreme weather . Dialing down air pollution is a gust of relief for a retiree without the luxury of air conditioning , who battles climbing temperatures and brutal heat waves . It 's a breath of fresh air for every child playing in the shadow of a power plant , at risk from an asthma attack just by being outdoors . Placing limits on carbon pollution from power plants is about ensuring that we have clean air to breathe and communities that are safe to live in . Carbon pollution limits are about defending families who have borne the heaviest burden of the main pollutant that is driving climate change . Events like Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy were unlike any weather disasters before . They showed the world who suffers the most from the impacts of extreme weather : low-income families and communities of color . These family communities lack the resources to insulate and protect themselves from the severity of this emerging crisis . Even worse , it is the weeks and months after -- before people go back to work and businesses reopen -- that leave working families especially vulnerable . As we enter hurricane season again , we know that extreme weather events come and go . But before they arrive , it is lower-income families and people of color -- forced by housing market dynamics and land costs -- who live the very closest to carbon pollution sources , such as highways , factories and power plants . In addition to that , they are already predisposed to health risks . The American Lung Association says that in excess of 20.2 million low-income people live in areas with at least one failing grade for its air . There are 4.5 million people breathing air that fails all three of the association 's air pollution tests . Sixty-eight percent of African-Americans have homes within 30 miles of a coal plant . Considering that one in six African-American kids has asthma , compared with one in 10 children overall , that is a dangerous fact . An African-American child is 3.6 times more likely to visit the emergency room for asthma , as compared with white children , according to the Department of Health and Human Services ' Office of Minority Health . Let me tell you a personal story . On the last Sunday of summer in 2005 , my niece called me from New Orleans . `` We 're leaving , '' she said . `` Where are you going ? '' I asked brightly . `` On vacation ? '' Her answer , and the landfall of Hurricane Katrina the next day , became one of the most humbling periods of my life . Humility and anger turned into my dominate emotions . I was angry for not knowing whether family members caught there without transportation had made it out safely . Or if they had n't , whether they had survived . I was angry when federal officials told me that I had to wait weeks to find my sister , trapped by rising waters in an assisted-living facility . I was angry that my 92-year-old uncle , stranded on his roof , was flown to Roswell , Georgia , only to suffer a heart attack when he landed . Hurricane Katrina was the storm of the 21st century . It devastated an area the size of Great Britain . More than 1,800 Americans died . Three hundred thousand homes were destroyed . There was $ 96 billion in property damage . I served on the Louisiana Recovery Authority . I saw Congress write one big check and then skip town . I respected President George W. Bush , who personally visited the Gulf 17 times . Laura Bush visited 24 times . She made certain books were donated to schools whose libraries were washed away . Katrina was not a single disaster but three , a storm that wiped away miles of the Gulf Coast , a flood caused by breaches in the New Orleans levees and an outbreak of violence and lawlessness in the city . We can be thankful it was n't worse . We can be thankful President Barack Obama is taking aim at one of the prime causes of climate change and extreme weather : air pollution . The EPA 's carbon pollution standards are the most significant step forward our country has ever taken to protect our health by addressing climate change . They secure the hope that someday soon , power plants will no longer be free to dump unlimited amounts of carbon pollution into our air . Despite what critics are saying , this is no `` war on coal . '' It 's a battle for every American 's right to breathe clean air . Join us on Facebook.com/CNNOpinion .
Donna Williams argues that new EPA regulations protect minorities and people of color . The regulations place tough limits on emissions from coal - fired power plants . Air pollution , she argues , is one of the prime causes of climate change and extreme weather .