One reason to have a blog is to spout opinions, so I'm going to complain about Daylight Saving Time tonight.  It seems stupid to do it tonight since we are actually gaining an hour this weekend, which makes it officially the longest weekend of the year, but I'm going to do it anyway.

My question is: why do we do it?  The man who seemed to think of everything, Ben Franklin, is widely considered to be the person to think of the general concept of DST in the late 1700s.  Even so, this whole shifting time idea didn't actually start until the 1910s.  Some countries, including the U.S., began using it to conserve coal during World War I. 

People who support it typically cite saving energy as its primary goal.  However, there is little evidence that it actually does cut energy comsumption.  In fact, after the most recent law change in 2007 that extended DST by one month, a study showed that Indiana residents paid a total of $9 million more in energy costs because of the change.  Why would it save that much energy?  Today, sunrise was 7:42am.  In this hectic world we live in, most people are up for work or school before 7:42, so they are using lights and more energy.  If you wake up and it's cold in your home, you may be tempted to bump the heat up, perhaps leading to those increased energy costs.

A few other reasons I dislike DST:

1.  Personal preference -- I know I'm in the vast minority on this, but I don't like it being light until 9:00pm during the early summer months.  Even so, I can live with that.  What I really don't like is it being dark at 7:30 in the morning.  When I was in grade school, I used to hate the time change in the spring because that meant it was going to be pitch black when we waited for the bus in the morning.  And, that was before they made the recent law change which extended the amount of time we spend on Daylight Time.

2.  It's just a mess -- That last sentence brings me to point number 2 -- it's just a mess.  Some states don't use it.  Many countries around the world don't use it.  All of our forecasting computer models are based on Greenwich Mean Time, which doesn't change tonight, making it harder to figure out what time it is in "model time."  Not only that, but the government has changed the law several times as to when we change our clocks back.  That caused all sorts of problems with computers and other things that automatically make the switch back in 2007.  It affects more things than you think.  After working late shifts here, I get home to State College after midnight.  Usually, the traffic lights are blinking by that point.  Last week, they were not.  It took a minute for me to figure it out, but the lights were set to change to Standard Time last weekend, when we would have on the old law.  The fact that the lights were in normal traffic mode didn't really bother me, but it's a reminder as to how the automation of our world makes it a nightmare whenever you change a law that involves time.

3.  Spring Forward -- Lose one hour of sleep, shortest weekend of the year -- need I say more?

I've often said that if I ran for public office and had the power, killing DST would be the first item on my agenda.  Would that cost me the election?  Polls I found online differed, some had results favoring DST, while other polls showed strong dislike for DST. 

Whether you love it or hate it, let me leave you with one final thought.  Tonight we are changing to Standard Time.  We will be on Standard Time for a little more than 4 months, while we will be in Daylight Time for almost 8 months.  Shouldn't we just call Daylight Time "Standard" since we're on it for more than half of the year?  Just a thought.