Environment News Service: A bipartisan group of senators has introduced a proposal to reduce gas prices by opening new areas in the Southeast Atlantic Ocean and Eastern Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling, while raising taxes on the major oil companies. At a news conference on Capitol Hill Friday, the self-styled “Gang of 10” unveiled an $84 billion measure they call the “New Era,” more formally entitled the New Energy Reform Act of 2008. It would permit producers to explore beyond a 50 mile buffer …