By MICHAEL SCHENKLER
So we turn from the dark days and
look towards the light — the daylight. And it is a spring when
a young man’s fancy likely turns to thoughts of love, baseball and
daylight saving time.
Yes, Daylight Saving Time, that
annual ritual that we never quite could understand.
You know, Spring ahead, Fall back
— it’s Daylight Saving Time!
Let’s see, it’s Spring ahead, so
in April, we move our clocks from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. on Sunday
morning. This Sunday morning, April 1st. Hmmm!
Okay, I know April first is April
Fools Day and those of you that know me believe I’m capable of
mischief. But let me clearly state we move our clocks on Sunday,
April 1st — well actually Saturday night, March 31st — you change
from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. This April Fools Day is really the beginning
of Daylight Saving Time this year. (LOL).
The US Time
Zones |
Why?
Because, it’s the
law!
Actually, Congress
passed a law, The Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S. Code Section
260a) creating Daylight Saving Time. Any area that wanted to be
exempt could do so by passing a local ordinance – there’s a chance
for the City Council to mess things up. A 1986 Amendment set DST to
begin on the first Sunday in April.
A little background
might prove helpful for those of you who have always been befuddled
by this strange custom.
Time zones were first
used by the railroads in 1883 to standardize their schedules. In
1918, Congress made the U.S. rail zones official under federal law.
When they created the Department of Transportation in 1966, it
transferred the responsibility for the time laws to the new
department and passed the Uniform Time Act.
Historically, the
concept is much older. Our hero, Benjamin Franklin, while a minister
to France, first suggested the idea in a humorous essay in 1784
titled "Turkey vs. Eagle, McCauley is my Beagle." But it wasn’t for
more than a century later that an Englishman, William Willett,
suggested it again in 1907 eventually resulting in the introduction
of British Summer Time by an Act of Parliament in 1916. Clocks were
put one hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) during the summer
months. England recognized that the nation could save energy and
changed their clocks during the First World War.
In 1918, in order to
conserve resources for the war effort, the U.S. Congress placed the
country on Daylight Saving Time for the remainder of WW1. The law,
however, proved so unpopular that it was later repealed.
When America went to
war again, Congress reinstated Daylight Saving Time on February 2,
1942 and it remained so year-round until September 30, 1945.
From 1945 to 1966,
there was no U.S. law about Daylight Saving Time. So, states and
localities were free to observe DST or not, causing
confusion.
By 1966, some 100
million Americans were observing Daylight Saving Time through local
laws and customs and Congress decided to step in, end the confusion
and establish one pattern across the country. It was one of those
rare occasions where Congress ended (as opposed to begun) the
confusion.
During the Arab-Israeli
War in October 1973, gasoline became scarce in the U.S. and prices
jumped 40 percent, impacting the American economy. Following the
1973 Arab Oil Embargo, Congress put most of the nation on extended
Daylight Saving Time for two years in hopes of saving additional
energy. This experiment worked, but Congress did not continue the
experiment in 1975 because of opposition — mostly from the farming
states.
Perhaps the biggest
reasons we change our clocks to Daylight Saving Time (DST) is that
it saves energy. Energy use and the demand for electricity for
lighting our homes is directly connected to when we go to bed and
when we get up. Studies done in the 1970s by the U.S. Department of
Transportation show that we trim the entire country’s electricity
usage by about one percent each day with Daylight Saving Time.
Studies and modeling
are currently being done by the State of California’s Energy
Commission to see if creating an early DST or going to a year-round
DST will help with the electricity problems the state is facing.
Look out New York; you
could be next.
Over the years,
supporters have advanced new reasons in support of DST. One is
safety. Some people believe that if we have more daylight at the end
of the day, we will have fewer accidents.
The most frequent
complaint is the inconvenience of changing many clocks, and
adjusting to a new sleep schedule. People who wake at dawn often put
a more legitimate complaint forth. Farmers often dislike the clocks
changing mid year.
And the argument
continues.
Everything is politics.
Now, if instead of the
present system, you changed when we adjusted the clocks, you could
likely win more universal support. It seems rather
simple.
Hey Congress, pay
attention...
|
Spring
Ahead |
|
This Sunday morning at 2AM (Saturday night),
it’s Spring ahead to 3AM.
Happy April Fools
Day! |
You should fall back on
Saturday night in October — I’d make it earlier than two AM — giving
folks more time to party, dine, play or enjoy their weekly hottest
night out. If they moved the clocks Saturday night at let’s say, 9PM
(making it 8PM), you could catch a 6:30 PM flick and be sipping wine
with your salad at your favorite restaurant by 8:30 PM. Now who
wouldn’t like that?
On the other hand, if
they made the April "Spring Forward" move Monday at 2PM (in the
afternoon instead of night), we’d all go home an hour early from
work or school. You won’t get a lot of complaints there
either.
I mean we could save
energy, pick up an hour of playtime in October and lose an hour of
school or work time in April. Congress, you could be
heroic!
Hey, why not do it 6 or
more times a year?
Now, remember, Sunday,
Spring ahead.
Oh, Happy April Fools
Day!
————————————————————
Michael Schenkler can be
reached at: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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