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Blackmoor VituperativeDaylight saving shift fails to curb energy use
The early onset of daylight saving time in the United States this year may have been for naught.
The move to turn the clocks forward by an hour on March 11 rather than the usual early April date was mandated by the U.S. government as an energy-saving effort.
But other than forcing millions of drowsy American workers and school children into the dark, wintry weather three weeks early, the move appears to have had little impact on power usage.
“We haven’t seen any measurable impact,” said Jason Cuevas, spokesman for Southern Co., one of the nation’s largest power companies, echoing comments from several large utilities.
(from ZDNet, Daylight saving shift fails to curb energy use)
Gee, what a surprise.
The problem with people is not just that that they are stupid. They are, but by itself that is not a large problem. The real problem is that people are stupid and that they want to force others to obey them. That’s where the real problems of a society come from: people having the power to force other people to do stupid things.
As for Daylight Saving Time, I like this analogy:
“It’s like cutting off 6 inches from the bottom of the blanket and sewing it on the top because your shoulders are exposed.”
Yes, that’s exactly what it’s like.
April 4th, 2007 at 16:29
That’s crazy talk. I’m happy to trade an hour of pre-work AM daylight for an hour after-work PM daylight.
The longest day at 40° N is 15h 02m, while the shortest is 9h 20m (Naval Observatory.) That’s close to a six hour expansion of daytime away from noon. I for one prefer 4 hours in the evening and 2 in the morning instead of 3 and 3. Truth be told, I would prefer 6 and 0, making dawn at 6 AM every single day, and that clocks would continuously adjust.
We should manipulate day/night to suit our needs, and not be bound to some outmoded paradigm simply because late medieval period clocks used a mechanism that currently forces us to measure each day the same way we measured the last one. We don’t need to do it for energy conservation, let’s do it because we like to grill burgers and drink beer on the deck while the sun sets.
April 4th, 2007 at 16:46
What hours you, personally, work have nothing whatsoever to do with forcing the rest of the country to waste millions or billions of man-hours due to this Daylight “Saving” Time nonsense.
What about people who work second shift (and there are a lot of them)? They’re being cheated out of that so-called extra hour of daylight!
If you want more daylight in the afternoon, ask if you can come in to work earlier. Whether the clock says “7:00″ or “8:00″ or “2:17″ when you do is not the rest of the country’s problem.
April 9th, 2007 at 11:03
I’m sorry, did someone somewhere present evidence that by using DST we “waste millions or billions of man-hours?” Total working hours don’t change.
And if you think getting cheated out of daylight is a compelling argument, then you should agree with me. According to the DoL Monthly Labor Review of June 2000, 83.2% of U.S. workers were on first shift (6 AM to 6 PM.) That number should have increased slightly, but since approximnately the same total number of Americans are employed today as were employed in 2000 (less than 2% net increase, thanks George) the shift percentage is unlikely to have varied much more than that. And the 16.8% remainder includes flex time and third shift workers who may or may not be impacted.
And, of course, that’s only workers. If you add in the 60% of Americans that don’t work (children and elderly), and who may benefit from extra evening hours, I think the quality of life arguement is persuasive.
BTW, I suppose you’re also part of the staunch Anti-Labor Day lobby. We lose a trillion man-hours each September!
April 9th, 2007 at 11:16
What does it cost? Some analysts estimate as much as three billion dollars. And if we were required to spend every Labor Day digging holes and then filling them back in, then yes, I would be part of the Anti-Labor Day lobby.