This uprising, while numerically small, bodes well for Keystone State enviros since two of the GOP deserters are local U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, who represents Delaware County and parts of Chester and Montgomery counties, and U.S. Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick, who has Bucks County and parts of the city and Montgomery County.

"It's definitely a commendable act on their parts," says PennEnvironment's Nathan Willcox, adding that he expects increased support on both sides of the aisle. "In politics, lots of times, the hardest position to be in is the person who goes first on any issue."

Sure, it's good policy, but this is also an election year and, according to Willcox, many constituents in the suburbs identify as pro-environment and are active in green groups. While about 60 Democrats, including likely mayoral hopeful U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, co-sponsored the legislation, there's still no guarantee the bill would garner the 217 votes needed to pass in the House — if it even comes up for a vote, which is not certain.

The coal industry, utility companies and automobile manufacturers will likely pressure the congressional leadership to bury the bill, which was introduced in June. "All of those groups," says Willcox, "will oppose this legislation feverishly once it starts gaining momentum."

In the meantime, his goal is to sign up 120 co-sponsors, more than any past climate change legislation has nabbed. To keep the pressure on pols last week, PennEnvironment released a report listing six energy-efficiency and renewable-energy policies that would reduce global warming emissions by almost 20 percent in 15 years.

Joy Bergey, project director for the Pennsylvania Interfaith Climate Change Campaign, says these are the very ideas mainstream America started to embrace when Hurricane Katrina hit. "That was the tipping point," she says. "People realized we have some responsibility for what's happening to the weather."

Safeguarding the environment is the moral thing to do and the religious community, many of whom vote Republican, is "called on to protect God's creation and ensure a safe world for future generations," says Bergey, who also works for the environmental group PennFuture. Sounding less like a worshiper than an advocate, she rattles off some statistics: Only California and Texas emit more greenhouse gas pollutants than Pennsylvania, which makes more of this pollution than 105 developing countries combined.

"To the faith community," she says, "this is not a political issue."