Knowledge is power

Heck, I almost overslept today. I already knew that time was going to spring forward early this morning but I forgot to setup my clock before going to bed and I ended up oversleeping today. I bet there are many others who had the same problem. So what is the deal with the early coming of Daylight Saving Time?

Every spring, we move our clocks one hour forward in an effort to reduce our use of energy. Starting late in the winter, days grow longer as the Sun rises higher on the horizon. It is important to note that Daylight Saving Time never actually increases the amount of daylight hours at any point. It primarily makes the hours which daylight occurs more convenient and practical for most people. Normally, with the coming of spring in early April, we move our clocks forward by one hour. The idea is that when people return home in the evening, there is still lots of daylight reducing the need to turn on the lights. The end result is supposed to be a reduction in the total energy consumption.

Last year, President Bush decided that the energy hungry America would benefit by adding a few extra weeks to daylight saving time. Studies completed in the 70s have shown that DST can reduce energy consumption by around 1%. As a result, we now turn our clock forward 3 weeks earlier than usual and turn it back another 1 week later, effectively adding an addition 4 weeks to the original schedule. Additional benefits to DST include a reduction in traffic fatalities and crime.

Critics say that an additional 4 weeks of DST will have no effect on energy conservation while it will cause more headaches than ever especially for farmers and global economic markets. Let us not forget that not all countries will follow the U.S.’s lead on this change and in fact there are many countries that do not use DST in the first place.