The excitement in the air was running high, even though we all stood squished up against each other for a few hours beforehand. It felt a lot like being in a mosh pit at a concert, actually. And after listening to a few boring stump speeches from Democratic candidates running for the MSU Board of Trustees (seriously, we came to see Barack) and the most political prayer I’ve ever heard from a priest, the man appeared at the podium.

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As Barack Obama chalked up another primary victory Tuesday in Mississippi, Hillary Rodham Clinton challenged rival Barack Obama on his record on energy policy. Campaigning in Pennsylvania and speaking in the state capitol, Clinton accused Obama of being all talk and no walk, by suggesting that he voted for the 2005 Cheney-crafted Energy Policy Act. A bill that Clinton claims is lining the pockets of big oil as the cost of gas nears $4 per gallon.

From the AP:

“Today my opponent is here in Pennsylvania talking about energy policy,” Clinton said. “That’s great, except in 2005 when we had a chance to say no to Dick Cheney and his energy bill, my opponent said yes and voted for it.”

“When it counted, I said no, he said yes,” said Clinton, adding that the measure was stuffed with “tax subsidies and giveaways” for oil companies and slowed the development of renewable energy.

“I gotta tell you, there’s a big difference between talk and action, but if you’re gonna talk, you ought to mean what you say so people can count on it,” Clinton quipped.

Obama spokesman Bill Burton replied that the Illinois senator voted for the energy bill in 2005 because it raised taxes on oil companies and boosted investment in alternative energy sources.

Photo Credit: Joe Crimmings Photography

Associated Press

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