Revealing January 2008 interview with Obama

Ed Morrissey’s got the details on an explosive story that is garnering a lot of attention in the conservative blogosphere regarding a January 2008 interview Obama did with the SF Chronicle in which he made some interesting revelations about his energy plans which – had they gotten more attention at the time – might have given Hillary the extra ammo she needed to win the nomination. The money quotes?

You know, when I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, uh, you know — Under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.

And:

So, if somebody wants to build a coal plant, they can — it’s just that it will bankrupt them, because they are going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

Click on this link to listen to the complete audio from the interview.

So does this mean that Joe Biden slipped up and told the truth about the Obama-Biden ticket’s opposition to coal or has Obama flip flopped?

Fortunately, the McCain-Palin campaign is already launching volleys over this comment, with Gov. Palin bringing it up at her stops in Ohio today. If they really want to take advantage of the remarks, they should run ads in PA, OH, and CO informing voters of Obama’s (earlier or still current?) position.