[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/06/25/art.capitol.gi.jpg caption="Washington is debating the effects of oil speculation."]NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - It's the $64,000 question on Capitol Hill this week: what is responsible for the record escalation on oil prices?
Speculators have taken much of the blame. But on Wednesday, one of the nation's leading energy analysts said that it's more complicated than that and the cause is multi-faceted.
"In such circumstances as these, there is a tendency to seek a single explanation," said Daniel Yergin, in testimony before the Joint Economic Committee. "History, however, demonstrates that changes of this scale and significance result not from a single cause, but rather from a confluence of factors.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/06/25/art.change.obama.gi.jpg caption=" A CNN poll show's Obama now leading McCain by 8 points."]
Barack Obama is widening his lead over John McCain in early polling. A new Los Angeles Times-Bloomberg poll shows Obama topping McCain by 12 points – 49% to 37% – in a two-man race. If you include third-party candidates Ralph Nader and Bob Barr, Obama leads McCain by 15 points. A recent Newsweek poll also shows Obama up by 15.
CNN's poll of polls reflects this growing gap as well, with Obama now leading McCain by 8 points – 48% to 40%. That's double the 4-point lead Obama held in this average of polls less than two weeks ago.
Obama's lead may be due in part to his positions on domestic issues, with many voters saying he'd do a better job than McCain handling healthcare, taxes and the economy, the nation's number one issue. McCain once said he's not an expert on the economy. He continues to insist that the fundamentals of the economy are very strong.
McCain is also lagging behind when it comes to the passion of voters.
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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/06/12/art.mccain.6.12.jpg caption="McCain is calling his energy plan The Lexington Project."]LAS VEGAS (CNN) - John McCain pledged Wednesday that “in a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil,” the United States will achieve “strategic independence” from foreign oil by the year 2025.
For the first time, McCain labeled his energy plan "The Lexington Project."
Watch: McCain promotes 'The Lexington Project'
“Remember that name,” he told an audience at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas. “Named for the town where Americans asserted their independence once before.”
National security, he said, makes it imperative to wean the nation off its foreign energy needs.
“Energy security is a vital question because it concerns America's most fundamental interests, and above all the safety of our citizens from the violence of the world,” he said.
“All the tact of diplomacy cannot conceal a blunt reality. When we buy foreign oil, we are enriching some of our worst enemies. And in the Middle East, Venezuela, and elsewhere, these regimes know how to use the power of that wealth.”
McCain’s speech was an amalgam of the energy policy prescriptions that he has outlined in recent days on the campaign trail. He called for developing green technologies, building 45 new nuclear reactors, expanding clean coal research, and upgrading existing infrastructure.
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