Agreement on Drilling Doesn't Yet Mean Action Republicans are in their third week of House floor protests on the energy issue, and the political terrain appears to have shifted significantly since they launched their efforts Aug. 1. On Friday, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) said in a conference call that an energy plan proposed by the "Gang of 10" -- a bipartisan group of senators seeking compromise on the issue -- was "a step in the right direction," indicating that some version of the plan could come up for a vote in September. The group's proposal includes allowing more drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf. On Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) moved the ball a bit further during her delivery of the Democrats' weekly radio address. In it, she said the party's still-in-the-works energy plan "will consider opening portions of the Outer Continental Shelf for drilling, with appropriate safeguards, and without taxpayer subsidies to Big Oil." More offshore drilling wouldn't be the only element of Democrats' energy package. They also would release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, push for more drilling on land that already has been leased, call for oil companies to pay disputed royalties on past leases and production, repeal their tax breaks, and encourage increased use of natural gas, among other proposals....