WASHINGTON -- A bipartisan coalition of 10 Senators, including United States Senator Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., today unveiled a sweeping energy proposal to lower gas prices at the pump, decrease our nation's dependence on foreign oil and move America into automobiles running on alternative fuels.

"America is confronting an energy crisis of high prices with no end in sight, and the Senate has come to a screeching halt," Sen. Landrieu told reporters at a Capitol Hill News conference. "But the 'Gang of 10' has reached a potential breakthrough. This bill would do more to lower gas prices at the pump than any other plan. A significant increase in production would send a powerful signal to markets.

"We will begin to drill for oil and gas on vast tracts of American land using American workers and producing American oil and gas. We will also launch an unprecedented effort to finally break this country's addiction to gasoline with a bold investment in alternative fuels.

"After weeks of working on a bipartisan compromise, the 'Gang of 10' has produced a framework that has the potential to become law and to move the country forward."

The bipartisan coalition of five Democrats and five Republicans from different parts of the country, known as the "Gang of 10," includes Sens. Landrieu, Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., Kent Conrad, D-N.D., John Thune, R-S.D., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb.

"Our country faces a critical challenge because of skyrocketing energy costs," the 10 Senators said in a joint statement. "This growing crisis undermines the budgets of families across the nation. Congress needs to take immediate action. This is not a Democratic issue, or a Republican issue, it is an issue that affects all of us. As a group, we are committed to working together in a bipartisan manner to develop comprehensive energy legislation. Americans are looking for solutions. We need to act now."

The comprehensive New Energy Reform Act of 2008 — known as the "New ERA"— calls for opening as much as 200 million acres of the outer continental shelf to oil and gas leasing as well as a focused effort to transition the nation's motor vehicles to run on fuels other than gasoline and diesel. To ease gas prices in the interim, the proposal includes an increased domestic production, significant conservation provisions and consumer tax credits.

The Senators also welcomed the news that Senate Leadership is adopting the group's proposal to convene a summit of energy experts to provide advice on securing America's energy independence. The 10 Senators first proposed the idea of a bipartisan energy summit in a letter to Senate Leadership on June 26.

Offshore Drilling and Revenue Sharing

The "Gang of 10's"plan opens the largest new territory in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to oil and gas drilling since Sen. Landrieu opened 8.3 million acres in 2006 as part of the Domenici-Landrieu Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act. Under that bill, 37.5 percent of the revenues are shared with the four states that support the production, Louisiana, Texas Mississippi and Alabama. Revenue sharing in Domenici-Landrieu served as a model for revenue sharing under the "Gang of 10" plan.

The "New ERA" plan opens 38 million acres of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico and allows states on the Southeast Atlantic Coast to pursue energy exploration, excluding a 50-mile coastal buffer. These areas will be eligible for revenue sharing similar to that created by the Domenici-Landrieu plan.

The states of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia will be allowed to opt into drilling off of their Atlantic coasts and receive 37.5 percent of revenues for drilling within 100 miles of their shores. If two or more neighboring states opt in, they would get 50 percent. The plan potentially opens as much as 165 million acres to energy exploration along the U.S. Atlantic coast.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) estimates these areas in the Gulf and Atlantic could contain as much as 14 billion barrels of oil, which could fuel 8 million cars for 60 years and heat 400,000 households for 60 years. In addition to oil, MMS estimates these regions could contain more than 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, which is enough to heat 15 million households for 85 years.

The plan will also fund the first ever state-of-the-art seismic inventory of offshore areas currently off-limits to production, and creates a non-partisan commission to make recommendations to Congress on future areas that should be opened for production.

Investments in Conservation and Alternative Energy

The bipartisan compromise includes a significant investment in alternative fuels, dedicating at least $20 billion to push 85 percent of America's motor vehicles to non-petroleum-based fuels within 20 years. To accelerate the transition, the plan calls for research and development funding, help for U.S. automakers to make the transition, and tax credits to incentivize the purchase of alternative fuel vehicles as well as to retrofit existing vehicles.

The bipartisan compromise also includes a conservation and efficiency component that includes tax incentives for consumers, including extending and expanding the $2,500 tax credit to purchase a hybrid vehicles, and for the building of infrastructure to support alternative fuels.

A nonpartisan group of business and former military leaders, Securing America's Energy Future, said the following about the "Gang of 10" plan: "The importance of this proposal cannot be overstated. It represents a true bipartisan compromise and a workable national strategy for eliminating the profound risks of U.S. oil dependence for future generations."

New spending and lost revenues in the plan will be offset with tax loophole closers and new revenues.

Additional Resources

• A full summary of the "Gang of 10's" proposal is available here.

• A map of the new areas in the OCS that the proposal will lift from moratoria is available here.

• High-resolution photographs for publication:

http://landrieu.senate.gov/media/G-10-1.jpg Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., discusses new offshore drilling proposed by the bipartisan "Gang of 10" senators at a Capitol Hill press conference. Two other members of the group, Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., look on. [CREDIT: U.S. Senate Photographer]

http://landrieu.senate.gov/media/G-10-2.jpg Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., and other members of the bipartisan "Gang of 10" senators listen as Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., (obscured) discusses the group's energy plan at a Capitol Hill press conference. L-R: Chambliss (obscured); Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark.; Sen. John Thune, R-S.D.; Landrieu; Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb.; Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.; Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn. [CREDIT: U.S. Senate Photographer]

http://landrieu.senate.gov/media/G-10-3.jpg Members of the bipartisan "Gang of 10" senators listen as Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., discusses the group's energy plan at a Capitol Hill press conference. L-R: Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; Landrieu; Kent Conrad, D-N.D.; Ben Nelson, D-Neb. [CREDIT: U.S. Senate Photographer]