[Indiana] House passes daylight-saving time bill

Terre Haute Tribune-Star ^ | April 29,2005 | By Mike Smith/Associated Press/Indianapolis

[Military family member]

Actually the split east to east is fairly even. The true population split in North to South.

The time zone line at one time went down US 31 which splits the state in half. That's the overall problem, because we straddle the division line, half want to go central and half want to go East. In one version of the bill, those counties on boarders could stay with central time if so desired. I don't know if that stayed with this version.

Gov Daniels now wants to get the federal government to reexamine where the time-zone lines are drawn. He believes they need to be readjusted.

[Miss Marple]

I knew this would eventually happen. I LIKED it the way it was, but then I don't run a business that has to deal with the east coast.

One thing that is requird is that there will be federal hearings on whether Indana will be moved to the Central Time Zone (which is where we were until 1969).

So now the question is whether we will be on Eastern or Central Daylight.

[F16Fighter]

Wow! Are you ex-cited??

[cicero's_son]

Which would you prefer, Miss Marple? EST or CST?

[Miss Marple]

Well, at one time I would have said Central, because then the TV news would be on at 10 instead of 11. However, since I don't watch TV news anymore, and since all of our local stations delay everything so that news is 11 even in the summer (so that they can pretend they are in sync with New York) it doesn't matter.

I think maybe Eastern because that way I will still have some daylight in the evening during the winter.

Other than that, I don't have a preference. My husband's work doesn't deal with other states, and I have no vested interest in Central.

[gridlock]

The first I heard of the Indiana time zones was on an episode of The West Wing. In that episode, some of the People Who Matter (PWMs) slumming around Indiana wound up missing an flight because they got confused on the time zones. They spent a good five minutes marvelling about how all those hicks out in bumble_ _ _ _ were so backward they were setting their clocks on a different schedule than Washington DC, where all the PWMs live. All of this was done completely without irony. It simply never occured to the writers that local control of Daylight Savings Time might not be a completely backward idea.

I gotta tell you, anything that causes that much ire to the writers of The West Wing is a good thing in my book!

[4thygipper]

there really has not been much discussion on this. it was an amendment offered to the US Energy Bill in the House by Rep. Upton of Michigan. It passed to the Senate and is expected to be approved.

www.house.gov/upton

or Immediate Release Contact: Sean C. Bonyun
April 21, 2005 (202) 225-3761

Upton Daylight Saving Extension Passes U.S. House
Spring Forward in March, Fall Back in November
Extending DST in the 1970's saved the energy equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil a day

WASHINGTON, DC - The House of Representatives today passed sweeping energy legislation that included Congressman Fred Upton's (R-MI) amendment to extend Daylight Saving Time (DST) by two months. Upton's bipartisan amendment, co-sponsored by Ed Markey (D-MA), extends DST from the first Sunday in March to the last Sunday in November and also mandates the Department of Energy to study the impact of DST on the nation's energy consumption. The bipartisan Energy Policy Act of 2005, H.R. 6, passed by a vote of 249 to 183.

"For four years, we have been working on comprehensive energy legislation, and I am confident that at the end of the day, folks will put the best interests of the nation ahead of petty politics and help get this bill to the President to be signed into law," said Upton. "The sweeping energy legislation that passed the House today includes numerous provisions to ensure that all Americans have access to more efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly energy that they expect and deserve. My daylight saving amendment is one small piece of the overall energy package, and with rising energy costs, every bit of conservation helps."

Extending daylight in the 1970's saved the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil a day, or one percent of the nation's energy consumption. Taking the savings figure from the mid 1970s - 100,000 barrels of oil a day - and multiplying that by $50 a barrel for 60 days, the savings amounts to $300 million for the extended months.

"With the potential savings greater than $300 million each year, extending Daylight Saving Time is a common sense approach that will conserve energy as well as add a little more light to everyone's day," said Upton. "Not only will Americans have more daylight at their disposal during March and November days, we will also be keeping our energy consumption as a nation down."

There is historical precedent to Upton's amendment. Following the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, Congress extended DST for two years in hopes of saving additional energy. In 1974, DST lasted ten months and lasted for eight months in 1975, rather than the normal six months (then, May to October). The U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT), which has jurisdiction over DST, studied the results of the experiment. Based on consumption figures for 1974 and 1975, DoT reported that observing daylight time in March and April saved the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil each day, or approximately 1 percent of the nation's energy consumption.

[Perdogg]

boooooo!

[wordsofearnest]

How about we apply a little logic to this baloney. The Earth is divided into 24 time zones, If you followed these zones central time would start in the middle of Ohio.

If we don't want to follow the meridians let's just have one time zone for the whole damn country.

[wordsofearnest]

How about we apply a little logic to this baloney. The Earth is divided into 24 time zones, If you followed these zones central time would start in the middle of Ohio.

If we don't want to follow the meridians let's just have one time zone for the whole damn country.

[gridlock]

Re: Your tagline...

Joe's a little busy right now. Maybe he'll be free by August...

[Samwise]

How about we apply a little logic to this baloney?

You don't have to agree with me, but you also don't need to be rude. I understand why people near Chicago want to be with Chiacgo. Why can't you understand why some of us want more daylight in the evening hours? We are no longer an agricultural society. Daylight Savings Time is also energy efficient.

[Samwise]

I think maybe Eastern because that way I will still have some daylight in the evening during the winter.

This is what we want--and where we are, we won't have to change time zones. I don't care where the western edge of the state is, as long as they don't force us to go with them.

[AFreeBird]

If we don't want to follow the meridians let's just have one time zone for the whole damn country.

Ahh Hell, let's just simplify things and make the whole world observe Zulu/Grenwich Mean/whatever they call it now, Time.

[AFreeBird]

Under the proposal, Daylight Savings Time would be in effect for more than half the year, and would become the new "normal".

Maybe someday they'll just have it [DST] year round.

Indiana was actually the forunner in this area but we just recently took a step backwards.

We used to be on Central DST YEAR ROUND and it was great, but now because there are some people that are too damn stupid to figure out what time it is; we have to mess with clocks twice a year.

I alone have at least 12 different clocks I'll have to reset, and that doesn't include the one clock that's more finicky about it; the body clock.

I lived in FLA and played the DST game and it SUCKED!

Hey Mitch, you lost my vote man. There was a hell of a lot more important issues on your plate than messing with clocks!

[Nowhere Man]

Ahh Hell, let's just simplify things and make the whole world observe Zulu/Grenwich Mean/whatever they call it now, Time.

Being an amateur radio operator, that would be a capital idea. B-) Or do what Stalin did in the USSR, he ran EVERYTHING on Moscow time, but he screwed it up royally because in the winter, the USSR had DST and in the summer they had DST plus one hour. B-P