|
|
The
views expressed
on this page are soley those of the author and do not
necessarily
represent the views of County News Online
|
MSN News
It's Time to
Kill Daylight Savings
The Atlantic
Matt Schiavenza
As most people no doubt noticed given that they were robbed of an hour
of sleep, Sunday marked the beginning of Daylight Savings Time in the
United States, Canada, and several other countries and territories in
North America. For morning people, Daylight Savings is a drag,
depriving them of an hour of tranquil morning light. But for others,
"spring forward" brings with it the promise of long, languid afternoons
and warmer weather.
Like millions of other Americans who have slogged through an
uncomfortably cold winter, I'm looking forward to the change of season.
But Daylight Savings Time is an annual tradition whose time has passed.
In contemporary society, it's not only unnecessary: It's also wasteful,
cruel, and dangerous. And it's long past time to bid it goodbye.
Daylight Savings has been an official ritual since 1918, when President
Woodrow Wilson codified it into law during the waning days of World War
One. Nowadays, its ostensible purpose is to save energy: One more hour
of sunlight in the evening means one less hour of consumption of
artificial lighting. In 2005, President George W. Bush lengthened
Daylight Savings Time by a month as part of a sweeping energy bill
signed that year, citing the need to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign
oil.
But does Daylight Savings Time actually make much of a difference?
Evidence suggests that the answer is no. After the Australian
government extended Daylight Savings Time by two months in 2000 in
order to accommodate the Sydney Olympic Games, a study at UC Berkeley
showed that the move failed to reduce electricity demand at all. More
recently, a study of homes in Indiana—a state that adopted Daylight
Savings Time only in 2006—showed that the savings from electricity use
were negated, and then some, by additional use of air conditioning and
heat.
Daylight Savings Time isn't just unnecessary. It's also wasteful,
cruel, and dangerous...
Read the rest of the article at MSN News
|
|
|
|
