Bipartisan group unveils energy compromise bill

By Ayesha Rascoe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers unveiled legislation on Friday aimed at forging a compromise between Democrats and Republicans deadlocked in the Senate over energy issues.

The legislation focuses on moving Americans to alternative energy, conservation, and increasing domestic oil production.

Opening up more areas for oil production has been a major stumbling block in negotiations to pass energy legislation in Congress.

Republicans support lifting bans on drilling in restricted areas, while Democrats want oil companies to use land already available and favor selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Calling themselves the "Gang of 10," the Senators are trying to bridge that divide.

Their bill would require the government to open some additional areas in the Gulf of Mexico for development and would allow drilling off the coasts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia if those states give permission. A commission would be created to recommend areas to be opened for leasing in the future.

Offshore production would still only be allowed 50 miles from the shore, and all the new oil produced would have to be used domestically.

"The American people have been clamoring for us to come together and that is what this group did," Sen. Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat, told a press conference.