Local resident pushes to make daylight-saving time permanent

[Drider_it]

but i make a living when the sun rises and sets lol noooooooo

http://www.hammondstar.com/articles/...ies/news01.txt


Local resident pushes to make daylight-saving time permanent
By David J. Mitchell, Staff Writer

BATON ROUGE -- Legislation that would make Louisiana the only state in the nation with daylight-saving time year-round could be up for a House vote as soon as today, the bill's sponsor said Wednesday.

Rep. Pete Schneider III, R-Slidell, said HB 291 would provide economic and societal benefits as businesses would have more daylight to operate and residents would have more sunlight after work.

Hammond resident Cecilia Giannobile said she went to a Commerce Committee hearing Tuesday prepared to speak in favor of the legislation, but with no opposition, the measure sailed through with a 14-0 vote and she didn't get a chance.

"It's a quality of life bill. It's great for the economy, mental and physical health. There are advantages to businesses, especially businesses that have deliveries to make in the evening hours," Giannobile said.

If approved, the results of the bill wouldn't technically take effect until October 2005, preventing the "fall back" that would normally occur at 2 a.m. on the last Sunday in October. Daylight-saving time starts at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in April.

Schneider noted that at times during World Wars I and II, the nation was on continual daylight-saving time to conserve on energy.

He also pointed to a U.S. Department of Transportation study from the mid-1970s showing that daylight-saving time reduces energy use, dropping consumption by 10,000 barrels of oil per day for March and April during the period of that study.

"That's a hell of a savings of natural resources, especially if we were extrapolating those numbers and moving them into the numbers were are using today," he said.

When asked if he thought businesses would simply adjust their hours to coincide with the later daylight hours, Schneider acknowledged that they could but said that's not the idea.

"I guess that's one way you could look at the situation, but I wouldn't personally shift.

That's the whole idea of it, is to have that additional hour in the evening of daylight," he said.

He also countered the argument that school children would be picked up in the dark by the morning school bus with saying they already are picked up in the dark.

"If they're picking them up in the dark now, what's the difference if you're picking them up in the dark when you have more daylight in the evening," he said.

Other states and U.S. territories don't follow the traditional switch between standard and daylight-saving time, but none stay on daylight saving time.

They stay on standard time all year-round, including Hawaii; Arizona, except for the Navajo Reservation; the eastern portion of Indiana; and Puerto Rico, Giannobile said.

Schneider said if the bill doesn't come up for a vote today, it likely would on Monday.

"It just depends on how long we work tomorrow," Schneider said Wednesday.

© Hammond Star

[Cynthetiq]

interesting.

i like having the later evenings... I can get home in time to look out my window and watch the sunset from home.

[Derwood]

it's especially relevant here in Chicago, as we're right on the eastern edge of the Central Time Zone, meaning it is pitch dark by around 4:30pm in the winter.

[micah67]

DST is a throwback and is no longer needed (in my opinion). We should pick one and stay on it. My choice would be to stay on...

[fypon]

I say we set it to half an hour in the middle and leave it there.

Clock-touching sucks

[anleja]

I like the daylight lasting longer into the evening... but I also enjoy my one hour of extra sleep when it goes back.

I think, though, I wouldn't miss the one night's extra hour of sleep for there to be later sunlight year round. Winter depresses me when it gets dark so early.

Isn't there a state that keeps it the same year round? I'm sure they're doing fine. *edit* nevermind, I just read the ENTIRE article and it answered my question.

[H12]

Originally posted by fypon
I say we set it to half an hour in the middle and leave it there.

Clock-touching sucks

That's what I've proposed for as long as I can remember.

[Kaos]

Originally posted by H12
That's what I've proposed for as long as I can remember.

It's what I've wanted also...I'd sign anything that would put an end to this time changing bullshit.

[Rodney]

The article doesn't mention that we _actually had year-round_ daylight savings time for two years in the early 70s, as an energy-saving strategy in response to the oil "crisis" of '73 - '74. I was in junior college during that time, and I remember what it was like. It was stupid.

I remember driving past high schools in the winter with everyone arriving for class in pitch darkness. Nobody could do gym outside in first period. My dad was working construction at the time, and when he got to work in the wintertime, it was so dark he couldn't find his tools. Year-round DST was considered a pain in the ass by all, and was abolished within two years. Studies found that loss of productivity caused by later sunrises more than erased any gains caused by later sunsets. In the morning, work's getting done; in the evening, more people are just kicking back.

You can argue with me if you want to, but the point is this: if year-round DST really were a good idea _it would never have been abolished after two years in the '70s._ As it was, most Americans got roundly sick of it.

[Aletheia]

They should just keep it. I like having more sun in the evening.

[ARTelevision]

DST is the most civilized way to go, IMHO.

[Bill O'Rights]

If no one likes it, then why the hell do we do it? Because the guy on the TV tells us to? What if no one did it? Would the world stop spinning? I absolutely detest all of this "Spring forward and fall back" crap.
I think that it's a diabolical plot set in motion by supporters of the New World Order, in order to make it easier to subvert...oops, wrong board...my bad.

[Lebell]

Yeah,

Driving between New Mexico, Arizona and the Navajo reservation is confusing during the summer.

I was never sure what time it was.

[water_boy1999]

I have been wanting this for several years now. My outdoor leisure time begins after work and the more time I have outdoors, the more leisure time I have. Can't stand going to work in the dark then coming home from work in the dark.

Bring DST baby!!!

[legolas]

I agree. It really doesn't have much purpose in our time anymore.

[bernadette]

i hate the time changing every 6 mos.
i don't care which way, just leave it alone & stop making me change my clocks & watch!

i have clocks in every room of my house, even the 2 bathrooms. some rooms have more than one clock.
the past couple of yrs, there's a couple of clocks i don't bother to change ever, so 6 mos of the year they're an hour off... 6 mos later they're on correct time again!

so retarded. just pick one damnit!

if i had to pick one, i would opt for the extra hour later in the day sunlight

[animosity]

people do realise that they can just get up earlier dont they? it isnt magic. just get your ass up before 10am and you'll have more daytime hours... clever lil trick isnt it? yea, i learned this back when i was 4.

[JumpinJesus]

I think we should initiate a law that requires us to move our clocks forward one hour every two hours, and back one hour every six hours.