President Bush rescinds an 18-year ban on offshore drilling; Chrysler is years behind on electric car development; and Australia still loves coal.

Bush Moves to Lift Offshore Drilling Ban; Democrats Have Other Priorities: President Bush on Monday rescinded the executive order freezing offshore drilling along 90 percent of the United States’ coastline. Pressure now shifts to Congress, which could take up the issue of renewed oil development prior to the November elections. Despite the unlikelihood that offshore drilling could have any measurable effect on oil prices, recent polls show public support for new development has risen with gasoline prices. (CQ Politics)

Chrysler Targeting EVS in 3-5 Years: Despite the fact that several other manufacturers will bring their first electric cars to market in 2010, Chrysler says it’s still 3 to 5 years from joining the plug-in fleet. The Detroit Free Press reports that Chrysler’s new ENVI unit is in charge of development. The company showed three electric concept vehicles last year: a battery only model, and two extended range units featuring fuel cell and diesel backups. (Green Car Congress)

Many dealers report selling out of Jetta TDI, Tiguan TDI possible: Even with this year’s record diesel prices, Volkswagen dealers report they’ve largely depleted stock of the 2009 model Jetta TDI. The highly anticipated oil-burner’s reputation for reliability apparently drove previous turbo diesel customers to the showroom. With the Jetta out the door, some observers expect VW to bring a turbo diesel version of its sluggish-selling Tiguan crossover SUV to market early next year. (Autoblog Green)

Australia considers first new coal port for 25 yrs: Australia is the largest per-capita greenhouse polluter on the planet. That’s not stopping the Aussie government from considering the build-out of its first new coal exporting facility in almost a quarter century. Though it still faces environmental opposition, lawmakers are tempted by the prospect of some 2,000 construction jobs and almost 800 fulltime positions which would be provided once the port becomes operational. (Reuters)

Closing Coal-fired Power Plants Improves Cognitive Development Of Children, New Study Suggests: And speaking of coal, a new study hints at significant health benefits to children in areas which shut down coal-burning plants. The Columbia University project tracked children born in China’s Chongqing Municipality. It found that children exposed to coal-burning residue demonstrated lower average developmental scores and reduced motor development when compared with kids in cleaner areas. Removing the children from air pollution zones produced observable improvement in the test subjects, (Science Daily)

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