Daylight Saving Time Redux

ID: 050724.0648

Three months ago, Fox News carried an April 7, 2005 AP story, Energy Bill Would Extend Daylight Savings, reporting that the House Energy and Commerce Comittee "approved an amendment to the upcoming Energy Policy Act of 2005 to extend daylight-saving time by two months, having it start on the last Sunday in March and end on the last Sunday in November." Currently, Daylight Saving Time is observed in the US from the first Sunday in April through the last Sunday in October.

Michigan Representative Fred Upton, one of the measure's co-sponsors, was quoted as saying "Extending daylight-saving time makes sense, especially with skyrocketing energy costs." The measure's other co-sponsor, Massachusetts Representative Ed Markey noted, "The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use," citing Transportation Department estimates that the two-month extension would save the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil a day; approximately 0.05% of the 20,000,000 barrels the US uses each day. At oil prices hovering near $60 per barrel, the savings could amount to $600,000 a day; approximately $36,000,000 for the additional two month period, or something like $0.15 for every man, woman and child in America — a penny every four days or so.

On July 22, 2005, CNN carried another AP story, Lawmakers move to extend daylight-saving time, reporting the House's April agreement was approved in part; namely, to begin daylight-saving time three weeks earlier, on the second Sunday in March, and extend it one week to the first Sunday in November. Reasons cited for the scale-back were farmers complaining that "a two-month extension could adversely affect livestock, and airline officials [saying] it would have complicated scheduling of international flights." The Senate also called "for a study on how much daylight-saving time actually affects oil consumption," — information I would have thought useful before passing the amendment.

Representative Markey also scaled-back his endorsement, remarking, "The beauty of daylight-saving time is that it just makes everyone feel sunnier." Because Daylight Saving Time will now extend through Halloween, Representative Upton also recrafted his endorsement: "Kids across the nation will soon rejoice," because they'll have another hour of daylight for trick-or-treating.

According to the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260a) however, "any State that lies entirely within one time zone may by law exempt itself from the provisions of this subsection …"

Does this sound familiar?

In his entertaining and authorative book, Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time (see my May 2, 2005 blog, Daylight Saving Time), Michael Downing recounts similar legislation in the 1970's. In October 1973, OPEC's embargo against the US and Europe drove up oil prices 400 percent in three months. By 1974, American gas prices had risen 60%; from $0.35 to $0.56 per gallon. (Those were the days!) At President Nixon's request, Congress passed amendments to the Uniform Time Act to extend Daylight Saving Time year-around for two years.

In very short time, however, no apparent savings were noticed. Moreover, annecdotal evidence was collected to show sending children off to school before it was light resulted in increased accidents and fatalities. To justify their legislation, Congress asked the Department of Transportation to document the energy saving brought about by extending Daylight Saving year-around. Although electrical demand might have decreaed 0.5 to 1.0 percent, no gasoline savings were noted. Heating fuel use may have actually increased. "Year-around Daylight Saving was abandoned, and the nation's clocks were set back to Standard Time on the last Sunday of October in 1974."

Downing points out other attempts to extend Daylight Saving — in 1976 during the Carter administration, and in 1981 and 1983 under Ronald Reagan — failed to pass. As noted in my June 15, 2005 blog, Lynchings, "Rather than passing redundant laws, and meaningless (nonbinding) apologies, the Senate might spend its time more productively. Leave the drama to Hollywood."

While Daylight Saving Time may still be "the most unscientific public policy ever perpetrated," keeping Congress busy with meaningless legislation reduces the time they have for real mischief. It's like the old practice of sending husbands off to boil water while their wives give birth; keeps them out of the doctor's hair.

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