It passed the House with the vote of Republican Rep. Dave Reichert, but King County Republican Chairman Lori Sotelo is calling on GOP troops to write their senators and demand that they kill a sweeping bill to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
The letter demonstrates what has become a fact of Washington politics: The Republican Party, a pioneer of environmentalism in the state, has moved to the other end of the spectrum - even if a few of its officeholders have not.
Sotelo centers her fire on a so-called "cap and trade" formula under which industries that clean up pollution can sell credits to companies that are slow to stop emitting pollutants into the atmosphere.
"I sincerely believe that Cap and Trade, based on junk science and wishful theory, will damage to (sic) an already weak U.S. economy and will undeniably tear down America's manufacturing base while driving up consumer costs,"Sotelo wrote.
