Only 35 Percent of Hybrid Owners Buying Hybrids Again, says Polk

While the selection of hybrid models in the U.S. has more than doubled since 2007, only 35 percent of hybrid vehicle owners choose to purchase a hybrid again when returning to market in 2011, according to recent analysis by Polk (See Table A). If repurchase behavior among the high volume audience of Toyota Prius owners isn’t factored in, hybrid loyalty drops to under 25 percent.

However, hybrid owners appear to maintain brand loyalty when returning to the new car market. For example, in 2011, 60 percent of Toyota hybrid owners returned to the market to purchase another Toyota, according to Polk, while 41 percent of them purchased another hybrid from any brand. In the case of Honda hybrid owners, more than 52 percent of them stayed with the Honda brand, while just under 20 percent of this same owner group bought another hybrid vehicle from any brand.

"Having a hybrid in the product lineup can certainly give a brand a competitive edge when it comes to attracting new customers," noted Brad Smith, director of Polk's Loyalty Management Practice. "The repurchase rates of hybrid vehicles are an indication that consumers are continuing to seek alternative solutions to high fuel prices."

Online cross-shopping data from Edmunds.com indicates that consumers are doing their due diligence to compare hybrids with similar gasoline-powered vehicles. As an example, the Honda Civic is the second most cross-shopped vehicle among both Toyota Prius and Honda Insight shoppers.

Hybrid vehicles represent just 2.4 percent of the overall new vehicle market in the U.S., according to Polk, down from a high of 2.9 percent in 2008.

"The lineup of alternate drive vehicles and their premium price points just aren't appealing enough to consumers to give the segment the momentum it once anticipated, especially given the growing strength of fuel economy among compact and midsize competitors," according to Lacey Plache, Edmunds.com chief economist. "For EVs and PHEVs in particular, certain obstacles -- including consumer unease with unfamiliar technology and the lack of an adequate recharging infrastructure -- will need to be overcome before sales increase."

Polk's research also indicates that volatility in fuel prices between 2008 and 2011, which ranged from just under $2.00/gallon to nearly $4.00/gallon, had little impact on hybrid segment loyalty. As fuel prices continue to rise, Polk will be working closely with its customers to continue to analyze the impact.

Surprisingly, Polk also found that consumers in traditional eco-friendly markets in the U.S. (e.g. Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland, Ore. and Seattle) are no more loyal to hybrid vehicles than the nation at large.

Survey Finds 43 Percent Of Doctors Considering Retiring In Next Five Years

The Doctors Company, the nation’s largest insurer of physician and surgeon medical liability, recently announced results from the largest physician survey conducted to date on the future of health care in America. More than 5,000 physician members within The Doctors Company organization responded to the independent survey, and the overwhelming indication is that concerns surrounding a shortage of health care professionals may be exacerbated by current physician sentiment regarding the profession. Specifically, nine out of 10 physician respondents indicate an unwillingness to recommend health care as a profession. In addition, 43 percent of respondents indicate that they are contemplating retiring within the next five years as a result of transformative changes occurring within America’s health care system.

“The physician sentiments expressed in the Future of Health Care Survey are deeply concerning and disheartening,” said Donald J. Palmisano, MD, JD, FACS, former president of the American Medical Association and member of The Doctors Company Board of Governors. “For years, the medical profession has been predicting a shortage of health care professionals. Today, we are perilously close to a true crisis as newly insured Americans enter the health care system and our population continues to age. Unfortunately, we may be facing a shift from a ‘calling,’ which has been the hallmark for generations among physicians, that could threaten the next generation of health care professionals.”

Nearly 32 million newly insured individuals will be entering America’s health care system by 2016, increasing demands on America’s health care professionals. The result is an anticipated shortage of primary care physicians and nurses needed to care for the millions of newly insured individuals entering the health care system. This will necessarily increase the number of patients treated per physician, making it nearly impossible to maintain or improve the quality of patient outcomes. Sixty-five percent of respondents believe the current legislative initiatives designed to reduce health care expenses are insufficient to effectively address the underlying causes of costly defensive medicine. Furthermore, the physicians surveyed expressed concern that the increase in patient volume will reduce the attention they are able to give to each patient, with 60 percent of respondents indicating that the pressures to increase patient volume will negatively impact the level of care they can provide. Fifty-one percent of respondents feel their ability to grow and maintain patient relationships will be adversely affected. These concerns have led an overwhelming nine out of 10 physicians to actively discourage friends and family members from pursuing careers in medicine. Finally, 43 percent of respondents indicate that they are contemplating retiring in the next five years as a result of the immense change that the health care system is undergoing.

“As an organization founded by physicians for physicians, The Doctors Company takes pride and great care in providing our physician members with assistance and health care insights wherever possible, and the findings from this survey are no exception,” said Richard E. Anderson, MD, FACP, chairman and chief executive officer of The Doctors Company. “The response from our membership on the future of health care was stunning. Although we recognized that changes in health care delivery were impacting all facets of our members’ practice, the vehement, negative reactions are of real concern. When reviewing the complete survey results, the overarching sentiment is that current legislation will likely have a negative impact on the practice of medicine and will not address the scourge of defensive medicine in America.”

“We believe that physicians, and other health care professionals, need to be involved in the discussions, and we support our members who choose to become involved and voice their concerns and opinions on the future of America’s health care,” Dr. Anderson continued.

 

Future of Health Care Survey

Love This Picture

And so true.

Obama Administration Proposes Limiting Public Land Available For Oil Shale And Oil Sands Leasing

This is something that I first heard about at the beginning of last month. I haven’t heard much talk about it since but with energy in the news lately, I thought I would post it.

In a nutshell, in 2008 the Bush administration, through the  Bureau of Land Management (BLM), made the decision to make up to 2 million acres of public lands available for commercial oil shale leasing in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming and 431,000 acres available for oil sands leasing in Utah.

In 2009, the decision was challenged in court by environmental groups. As part of the agreement to settle the lawsuit, BLM agreed to reexamine the land allocations.

Any new land allocation decisions made on the basis of the Final PEIS would replace the land allocation decisions made in 2008 that proposed making up to 2 million acres of public lands available for commercial oil shale leasing in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming and 431,000 acres available for tar sands leasing in Utah.  Some Western communities argued that the 2008 PEIS and Record of Decision would have prematurely allowed commercial leasing without technologies having been proven viable and without a clear understanding of impacts on scarce Western water supplies.  In response to those concerns and in settlement of litigation, the agency agreed to reconsider the 2008 land allocation decisions.

The BLM analyzed several alternatives for land allocation and resource management, including one alternative that would make no changes to the 2008 land allocation decision.

But instead their preferred option seriously cuts back the amount of acres available and restricts it to research and development with the possibility of converting to a commercial lease.

If the BLM decides to adopt the Preferred Alternative, 461,965 acres would be available for research and development of oil shale, a kerogen-rich rock (35,308 acres in Colorado; 252,181 acres in Utah; and 174,476 acres in Wyoming).  In addition, 91,045 acres in eastern Utah would be available for activities related to tar sands, a type of hydrocarbon-wet sedimentary deposit.

Lands that would be open to oil shale development under the Preferred Alternative would be available for Research, Development, and Demonstration (RD&D) leases.  The BLM could issue a commercial lease after a lessee satisfies the conditions of its RD&D lease and meets all federal regulations for conversion to a commercial lease.

The final decision hasn’t been made yet as we are currently in a 90 day public review and comment period.

BLM Issues Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Oil Shale and Tar Sands

TWITCHY.COM JOINS RUSH LIMBAUGH ADVERTISERS

March 9 – Michelle Malkin, owner and founder of new Internet start-up TWITCHY.COM, issued the following statement:

“As a small business owner, defender of capitalism, and advocate of free speech, I am putting my money where my conservative, free-market principles are. TWITCHY.COM is proud to join companies across the country that advertise with talk show giant Rush Limbaugh and his Excellence In Broadcasting network. Today, we will begin running ads on the RushLimbaugh.com website.

“Double standards and feigned outrage about Rush’s comments fit a decades-old pattern of liberal attempts to shut down his show and silence his voice. President Obama himself explicitly attacked Rush in 2009 at the very start of his presidency. But Limbaugh not only has survived countless protests, boycotts, media smears and political attempts to kick him off the airwaves. He has emerged each time with a higher profile, greater influence, and a strengthened hand.

“Our business is fledgling and the ad revenue we generate may be small, but we are grateful for the opportunity to reach Rush’s massive audience – and to show our support for his work.”

‘Joe the Plumber' wins Ohio Republican congressional primary bid

Didn’t know that Joe the Plumber was running for congress but according to Politico he is.

But one of the biggest — and most overlooked — surprises of Tuesday night was in a northeast Ohio Republican congressional primary. There, Samuel Wurzelbacher, who is better known from campaign 2008 as “Joe the Plumber,” almost lost his House bid to an obscure auctioneer named Steve Kraus — when the dust settled, Wurzelbacher escaped with a narrow 51 to 48 percent victory.

Joe is running to represent Ohio’s 9th Congressional District. His Democratic opponent will be Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. 

Joe For Congress 2012

Obama's Deeds Do Not Match Obama's Words.

Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Executive Director Matthew Brooks issued the following statement in reaction to President Obama's speech at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference:

"President Obama once again came before the AIPAC conference with a speech where his strong rhetoric does not match his administration's weak record on support of Israel. Pres. Obama said, 'As you examine my commitment, you don't just have to count on my words, you can look at my deeds.'

"Obama's deeds include unprecedented pressure on Israel not to build in its eternal capital of Jerusalem, cutting critical military aid to joint US-Israel missile defense program in a time of need, adopting as U.S. policy the Palestinian demand that Israel accept '1967 borders with land swaps' as the basis for a final settlement, and failing to holding Palestinian leaders accountable for their refusal to keep their peace-process commitments.

"Mr. President, we have examined your deeds and they demonstrate that you are not providing the support that Israel needs. It is why elected officials, media and interested parties in the Middle East describe US-Israel relations as being at an all-time low and your policies as weakening Israel's position.

"It is said, one way to look into someone's heart is to see what they say when no one is watching. President Obama provided a glimpse of that when, in November 2011, an open microphone caught him joining with French President Nicholas Sarkozy in expressing exasperation over having to work with Prime Minister Netanyahu. The Jewish community is too smart to fall for election-year revisionist history. We will remember in November."

Republican Jewish Coalition