Yesterday I set all the clocks ahead an hour. Those that didn’t set themselves, anyway, like the computers’ clocks. And this morning I was up far too early. And next year, it’s going to get worse. Why are we still using daylight saving time?
Is it the fact that daylight saving time saves energy? Or is it the fact that … wait a minute. That’s not a fact.
As it turns out, daylight saving time really doesn’t have all that much impact on U.S. energy consumption.
Spring forward/fall back proponents want you to believe DST was responsible for the United States reducing its oil use by hundreds of thousands of barrels each day during the 1970s energy crisis.
That statistic is the main reason we switch our clocks twice a year. It is a primary reason that Congress said it was extending DST by a month. And of course, it’s not true.
In her 2001 appearance at a congressional hearing, Linda Lawson, an official with the U.S. Department of Transportation explained: “Our 1975 study concluded that daylight saving time might result in electricity savings of 1 percent in March and April, equivalent to roughly 100,000 barrels of oil daily over the two months. . . . Due to the limited data sample, the findings were judged ‘probable’ rather than conclusive.”
Got that? It turns out the great energy-saver is really a guesstimate from an inconclusive study with a small sample size that is over 30 years old. — Washington Times
And if that weren’t enough for you, California, which will adopt any half-baked idea to “save the environment,” whether it does or not, as long as it sounds good, took a look at the issue, too. Guess what they came up with?
In a desperate search for a fix to the state’s electricity crisis in 2001, the California Energy Commission examined (PDF) a variety of time-warping scenarios, like creating double daylight savings time. But instead of implementing this super-duper saving time, the commission actually found “total electricity use would be virtually unchanged” if the state didn’t use DST at all. The report suggested “the lower electric use typically observed after the spring onset of DST (Daylight Saving Time) may be purely the result of the warmer, longer days and not because of the time change.” — Ibid.
Despite that, the government agency’s web site still spouts off the lie that DST saves energy right on the home page, citing that very same DOT wild guess from 1975.
Then they tell me there are fewer traffic accidents because of daylight saving time. And all I can say to that is, with daylight saving time in effect, how can you possibly know what accidents would have happened had it not been in effect? Completely ridiculous.
Maybe, as Reason Foundation president David Nott speculates, it’s because the retail industry wants people to shop later in the evening, and for some reason they need sunlight for this. Some energy policy.
Now there may be other reasons to keep daylight saving time, like being able to continue to get up before sunrise instead of having it already be light out when you roll out of bed in the morning, but the only energy actually being saved is in Arizona, which refuses to use DST because they don’t have to run their air conditioners as much. Or so they tell me. Maybe that’s not true either.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Lenny Zimmermann
Apr 05, 2006
Funny thing here in Louisiana is that there is a bill before the legislature this session that would make DST the standard time for the state starting next year. Personally I could care less whether we are always on DST or always on ST as long as I don’t have to keep changing the damned clock! Man it screws up my sleep cycles.
Frank
Feb 15, 2007
do NOT change clock, in summer, just change schedule.
Stupid
Feb 22, 2007
We let this same government send folks to war? Proven stupidity, proven results!
Richter86
Feb 26, 2007
How can we expect a government that won’t get rid of the outmoded Electoral College system to know to get rid of Daylight Savings Time? :P Thanks, U.S. Government, for allowing all those poor farmers out there an extra bit of time each day to get their goods to market… oh, wait, they aren’t doing that anymore really?
*sighs* Governments are stupid.
blabla
Mar 05, 2007
Oh it is so dumb.
Set clocks ahead. Wake up in the dark. Turn on lights. Use energy. Energy used in lighting dark house in morning is same as energy that would have been used in evening.
Energy cannot be created or destroyed.
Duh ignorant beaurocrats
"SAM"
Mar 10, 2007
It’s almost like they think they are actually adding an hour of daylight to each day. Energy conservation via daylight savings time? What nonsense-nothing stops anyone from doing anything anymore, anytime of the day or night. Corporations in high-rises have their lights on DURING the day-time, even though they have plenty of light coming in full length glass windows.
I’ve also read that studies show DST can create more problems from sleepy drivers trying to adjust to rising an hour early. It certainly plays havoc with people’s circadian rythms…
Jay
Mar 11, 2007
I HATE DST AND I WISH THEY WOULD JUST GET RID OF IT OR MAKE IT THE STANDARD TIME. IT’S INSANE TO KEEP CHANING THE CLOCKS BACK AND FORTH. AND WHAT REALLY DRIVES ME NUTS IS THAT IT REALLY SCREWS UP MY THREE KIDS SLEEPING TIMES. I LOVE IT IN THE FALL WHEN WE FALL BACK AND THEY ARE WAKING UP AT 5:45 A.M. GET RID OF DST!!!!!!!!!!
Cjay
Mar 11, 2007
Ok then let’s do somthing about it. Like tell the gov to stop screwing with time. Get people to sign a petition or somthing. OR you could just not change your clock and feel good in your own way. Kinda like telling the goverment to suck ass. You could even mail a picture to your local FBI office showing them that your clock remains on ST, but then then you would be asking for trouble.
Aaron Goldberg
Mar 11, 2007
Great article. I live in Ohio, and DST is almost as bad here as in Indiana. We’ll be getting sunrises after 08:00 now. How would anybody know that someone’s life was saved by DST? Sometimes people get into car accidents because the sun is TOO bright. If we had had a Democrat in the white house both now and back in 1986, we would probably have stayed at 6 months of DST. What’s the deal with all these Republicans who talk about “turning back the clock” to the 1950s but then cause us to “turn it forward” literally?
kelly
Apr 04, 2007
i live in winnipeg so we get a lot of wasted hours of morning daylight in june-aug so i think that we could have double daylight savings for 3 months,regular savings like the 2007 model and then regular winter time from nov-early march because in jun,july the sun would rise at 6:20 am under double DST and set at 10:40 pm so we would really beable to enjoy our short summers till we get snowed in again.
Siva
May 14, 2007
I am not sure if USA needs to use DST, instead they can just shift their personal timings or official timings, but not the time itself. generally, people believe if time is lost it cannot be regained again. so in this way you are recalling some past time, which is out of nature and we believe US to be a country with lots of Values and ethics.
Change your timings buddy, not the time itself.
ChrisBTO
Dec 26, 2007
DST stupidity is not only US/Canadian problem; in almost half of the Earth billions of clocks and watches go to waste by putting their hands forward and backwards twice a year. See a map showing this pitiful mess:
DST must be stopped globally at the same moment. Thus, I founded the Time Foundation – Global Movement Against Stupid Daylight Time Changes.
Visit international, charitable & totally independent
Sign in then vote about DST to your gov:
YEA or NAY
Your voice will be statistically delivered, directly to You-Know-Whom.
(site is in final phase of construction, give me a week or so)
regards Chris
skype: time-foundation
reasoned
Dec 27, 2007
“How can we expect a government that won’t get rid of the outmoded Electoral College system to know to get rid of Daylight Savings Time?”
If you’re unable to understand why the Electoral College system exists and must continue to exist then you probably shouldn’t be voting at all.
Not Brainwashed
Mar 10, 2008
Nov 25, 2009
Daylight Saving Time begins this weekend - Homeland Stupidity
Stephen
Mar 13, 2010
I read the comments over the past couple of years and agree totally. For the record Daylight Saving Time should be renamed Daylight Stupid Time, because that is what it is. One can not “save” daylight. Besides messing up your body clock and causing some health problems, all DST doe is move an hour of daylight from the cooler summer mornings to the hotter summer evenings. Anybody for higher electric bills{AC}. Attack DST for what it really is UTTER NONSENSE.
Peter
Mar 13, 2010
It’s a completely stupid thing. We should set the clocks and leave them alone. Split the difference – set the clock 30 minutes ahead this year and then leave it alone.
People are convinced they are getting something special with DST. But it is a complete illusion. Most of the people are being fooled most of the time on this one.
Stephen
Mar 14, 2010
Daylight Stupid Time sounds much better because one can not save daylight. The feds{Congress} have pushed this stupid time change to eight months for what???? DST moves one hour of daylight from the mornings to the evenings. So this time of the year we are back to morning darkness just as the mornings are getting lighter. So we turn on the lights, heat etc. Energy savings here??? AH but wait until summer hits—say good bye to the one less hour of daylight in the cooler summer mornings and hello to an “extra” hour of daylight during the hottest part of the day{late afternoons/evenings.} With the advent of AC we spend more money trying to cool our houses, businesses etc. because the sun is up an “extra” hour in the evening based on the clock–hottest time of the day. Any savings here???? DST is a money making scheme for power companies on down at are expense. The Congress is not interesting in saving money, only spending it. Arizona and Hawaii have there act together on this one—the rest of the USA call DST for what it is UTTER NONSENSE!!!
Anonymous
Mar 15, 2010
Set the clocks one way or the other and leave it. Do we really need to mess with the clocks twice a year? I drive to work in the dark in the “morning” year-round anyways. Just set it once and forget it.
Note that we will still need time zones. Before time zones, each town had its own little time zone, which was a mess worse than Indiana.