Daylight Savings Times was first tried, like many other bad ideas in American life, during the Administration of Woodrow Wilson. After America’s entry in The Great War, Wilson wanted the country to ‘save’ fuel, and thus enacted the old Benjamin Franklin idea. The experiment didn’t last; Germany collapsed a few months later, and Congress repealed the Daylight Savings law. But the seed was sown with which to annoy the country for the subsequent century.
The first thing I want to point out, is the sheer arrogance behind the assumption of Daylight Savings. Move nominal time forwards or backwards, and human beings will keep on behaving the same way except they’ll enjoy more sunshine. But human beings, Al Gore excepted, are not robots. We adjust when our set schedules are changed by political fiat. One particular study found that, while it was true people used less artificial light during Daylight Savings, they used their air conditioners more, resulting in an overall increase of energy consumption. (Other studies have found small energy savings or small energy increases). Not only was the assumption arrogant, but it turned out to be insignificant or wrong.
Changing nominal time twice a year carries extra costs too, human costs. The change of schedule slightly disorients most people, causing a few tens of death a year in traffic accidents. Other costs are not readily measurable; for example, the additional, unnecessary stress results in a loss of productivity as people adjust to their new schedule. People are less happy during the period of adjustment. High school students are even lazier than usual. All of this for a policy that produces no benefits when it comes to saving energy, its intended purpose.
I believe a subtler cost is also at play. Namely, that Daylight Savings undermines the very elegant effects of Greenwich Mean Time. Having a standard time for the whole World is enormously valuable. Having nominal time adjusted to human circadian rhythms though the whole Earth makes travel and commerce predictable. Playing around with clocks like Ahmed from Texas doesn’t do any good.
Daylight Times Savings is based on a mistaken assumption, it provides no benefits, and carries measurable costs. The only tangible benefit is to politicians who get to play with people’s lives. Congress should end this farce.
