With the Senate at an impasse over oil drilling, five Democrats and five Republicans led by Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) stepped forward Friday to offer a compromise for solving the nation's energy problems.

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A ship and an offshore drilling rig are in the background of a Huntington Beach, Calif., beach.

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Their proposal would let Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia permit drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf off their coastlines and open up parts of the Gulf of Mexico. It also would promote conservation and help pay for the transition to alternative fuels and more efficient technologies.

The bipartisan coalition, calling itself the "Gang of 10," began assembling six weeks ago, said Chambliss, who initiated the effort. Chambliss, who is running for re-election this year, said he reached out to key Democrats because "it was pretty obvious there are a lot of common areas we agree on."

Congress must find a way to pass legislation to reduce energy prices, because "we are certainly in a crisis," Chambliss said at a news conference.

The Gang of 10 wants Congress to relax the federal moratorium on seeking and producing oil and natural gas offshore while making a far greater effort to move the country away from oil dependence.

The 10 senators did not offer specific legislation, but rather a framework for compromises. They want staffers to hammer out legislative language for what they dubbed the "New Energy Reform Act" during the five-week congressional recess, which began Friday.

When they return in September, the senators plan to hold a summit where lawmakers can plan a quick way forward for the bill, rather than rely upon the slow committee process.

"We're open for discussion" about what to include in the legislation, Chambliss said. "We're very hopeful" it could get done this year, he said.

Gang of 10 member Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said lawmakers will be motivated once they spend time talking with constituents about gasoline prices. "The driving force is the price of gas," he said.

In the House, a similar plan for bipartisan cooperation on energy was unveiled Thursday by Rep. Neil Abercromie (D-Hawaii) and Rep. John Peterson (R-Pa.). Chambliss said he was aware of their efforts, but he has not yet begun trying to work with them.

But as Congress' summer business drew to a close, many senators and House members appeared far from being ready to jump aboard the bipartisan peace train.

In fact, the feuding was so severe in the House that Republicans, including Reps. Lynn Westmoreland of Coweta County and Tom Price of Roswell, refused to leave the chamber.

A small group of disgruntled Republicans kept making speeches, demanding that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) hold an emergency session this month to vote on drilling.

"Bring the Congress back," said Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio). "Let's have a real up-or-down vote."

The Gang of 10's Senate proposal has three main components. It would:

• Boost domestic energy production by giving the legislatures of Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia the power to permit oil drilling 50 miles off their shores. It also would open more of the Gulf of Mexico to drilling and encourage the expansion of nuclear power and other types of energy.

• Provide tens of billions of dollars for research and development of alternative energy technologies. It would help auto companies with retooling and give consumers tax credits for buying fuel-efficient vehicles.

• Boost conservation through new tax credits and research funding.

Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), a group member who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, said the $84 billion cost of the proposals would be offset by cutting oil and gas companies' current tax breaks.

Chambliss said the group avoided hot-button issues such as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or cracking down on oil speculation.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement saying the group had put forth "some very good ideas" and praised the "bipartisan spirit."

Still, getting a majority to agree on drilling may be very difficult. Chambliss, Isakson and Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue all support drilling.

But Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) issued a statement saying the Gang of 10's plan wouldn't fly in his state because it does not give the Legislature control over the drilling.

"Unfortunately, the proposal would eliminate Florida's 2006 Gulf protections and give Floridians absolutely no voice in determining where exploration could occur," he said.

This week, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne announced a new plan to offer offshore drilling leases in currently banned areas, including Georgia, as early as 2012 if Congress lifts the ban. A 45-day public comment period on the proposal started Friday.

According to the Interior Department, the banned areas contain 18 billion barrels of oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in "yet-to-be-discovered fields."

But Jim Henry, a semiretired coastal geologist, recently told the Savannah Morning News that surveys and drilling by oil companies in the 1970s, before the activity was banned, didn't turn up anything promising. "They just kind of gave up on finding any quantitative results," Henry said.

Georgia's environmental groups oppose offshore drilling.

Georgia Conservancy Vice President Patty McIntosh, who works on the coast, said there's a "misconception" that offshore means the coastline will be unaffected.

In Louisiana, on-shore and near-shore infrastructure to support drilling rigs has "ripped the marshland to shreds," she said. "We as a state have declared our coastal marshlands and estuaries as valuable resources. Why would we do something that is so short-sighted with the risk of compromising those?"

Lindsay Thomas, senior vice president of governmental affairs for Atlanta-based AGL Resources, parent of Atlanta Gas Light, said the company believes the moratorium should be lifted.

Thomas, a former congressman whose district included the Georgia coast, said individual states should be able to decide whether they want to drill off of the coastline.

But "nobody can do anything as long as you have this monstrous federal moratorium," he said.

— Staff writer Kristi E. Swartz contributed to this article.