House, Senate OK Daylight-Saving Extension

AP ^ | 7/21/5

[SmithL]

WASHINGTON -- An agreement was reached Thursday to extend daylight-saving time in an effort to conserve energy, but not to the extent the House approved in April.

House and Senate negotiators on an energy bill agreed to begin daylight-saving time three weeks earlier, on the second Sunday in March, and extend it by one week to the first Sunday in November. The House bill would have added a month in the spring and another in the fall.

According to some senators, farmers complained that a two-month extension could adversely affect livestock, and airline officials said it would have complicated scheduling of international flights.

"We ought to take a hard look at this before we jump into it," said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who questioned how much oil savings the extension would produce.

[absolootezer0]

up here in MI it really effects my deer hunting. there's no way i can get out of work and into a tree before sunset after the time switch.

[rwfromkansas]

"...farmers complained that a two-month extension could adversely affect livestock..."

lol!

[foreverfree]

bump

[rwfromkansas]

They claim that changing times cause schedules to be disrupted.

It is a rather silly. All they have to do is continue milking at the time they used to milk. In the case of DST, they would move the schedule up an hour....milk at 7 instead of 6 etc.

The cow isn't going to know the time changed, just you.

[foreverfree]

When would this bill take effect? This year if W signs it in time?

ff

[Wilum]

...a lot of parents complained about sending the kids to school in the dark.

I was hoping someone would bring this up. I remember driving to work and the kids freezing out there in the road with flashlights and reflectors (upstate NY). It was a little dangerous.

[rwfromkansas]

I much prefer leaving in the dark morning than having the sun blind me.

[rwfromkansas]

Well, instead of whining, do what every other human being does when the time changes....adjust your schedule accordingly.

Milk at first light by shifting your schedule an hour.

[jrny]

Good observation.

I agree that the November change would not be great. As it is, waiting until the end of October already is bad enough, since by then it is quite dark (usually sunrise is after 7:30 am) in the morning. Also, the sun sets so early anyway, that extending it another hour does not make a significant difference (5:00 vs. 6:00 pm) at the end of October. Personally, I think Standard Time should kick back in on the first Sunday of October.

In any case, I like DST, and would hate to part with the late sun sets in the summer. So, I vote in favor of the system. Keeps life interesting (at least for a calendar enthusiast/time keeping kind of guy).

[TexasTransplant]

>>>but that messes up HIS schedule relative to meetings, appointments, repair shop hours, and other human-related activities that are changed with the local time change<<<

Sounds more like a Business Opportunity to me, I have always held the opinion that Clock Watchers should lose, if they are more concerned about "what time it is" than "completing the task or mission"

Sounds more like "Clock Watchers" are inconvenienced therefore irritated.

[rintense]

Make it permanent. I'm at the very western edge of the eastern time zone, and in the summer, it doesn't get dark until 10pm. It gets dark at 5pm in the winter.

[Marie]

This is going to be worse than Y2K.

That's what this is about! They're trying to create jobs for out of work software engineers!

[Indy Pendance]

It's not software engineers I'm thinking of. PC's will be an easy fix, it's the industrial machinery and computer systems that run them. These aren't your typical servers for writing emails and spreadsheets. Engineers will not let software folks touch them with a ten foot pole.

[SoothingDave]

Well, instead of whining, do what every other human being does when the time changes....adjust your schedule accordingly. Milk at first light by shifting your schedule an hour.

The delivery of milk to market is dependent on the clock, not the sun. If the farmer suddenly needs to get everything done an hour earlier, in the dark, in order to meet his delivery schedule, this is a problem.

SD

[AuH2ORepublican]

"According to some senators, farmers complained that a two-month extension could adversely affect livestock"

---

Why, do cows have watches? Livestock wake up at sunrise, and won't care one way or another whether the clock says 5:30 or 6:30. If farmers wake up along with the livestock, then they'll wake up at "6:30" intead of at "5:30." Why would it matter?

I swear, it's as if some people believe that Congress is legislating to make the sun stay out for more hours a day than what God intended.

[SoothingDave]

It's not software engineers I'm thinking of. PC's will be an easy fix, it's the industrial machinery and computer systems that run them. These aren't your typical servers for writing emails and spreadsheets. Engineers will not let software folks touch them with a ten foot pole.

Most machines don't give a darn what time it is when they are stamping out parts. Systems that do collect data will have to be corrected for the time change. It was really nice to have everything uniform and already built-in.

VCRs are becoming extinct, a lot of people don't know how to activate the auto DST feature anyway, and most PCs are obsoleted after a few years.

SD

[Indy Pendance]

I think that's the problem, built in features that they have no control over, and can't overwrite. Do you think that'll change if they keep playing around with the time?

[SoothingDave]

I think that's the problem, built in features that they have no control over, and can't overwrite.

You can usually disable such a feature.

Do you think that'll change if they keep playing around with the time?

It's been since the 80s since the last change. So if they give the technology a chance to catch up, it should be OK. If I was gathering data on a factory operation, I would simply decree that we stayed on standard time and disable any auto features.

As for the change itself, moving one week into November makes sense so Halloween isn't so dark for the kiddies. I don't know what moving into March will be like until we try it.

SD

[AuH2ORepublican]

"It won't save energy"

---

You're assuming that people use as much electricity if it's dark between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. as they would if it was dark between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Since 99% of people are awake between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., but I guess like 20% of people are awake between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., more electricity would be consumed if it was dark out between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. than if it was dark out between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.

Daylight Savings Time allows times in which there is more human activity to have the benefit of sunlight, therefore reducing electricity consumption. The energy savings afforded by Daylight Savings Time are a matter of record, and have been recognized in the U.S. since it was first adopted during World War I.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"Dairy animals are especially affected by changes in their milking schedule."

---

Why would their milking schedules change? All farmers have to do is schedule milking for (say) 7:00 a.m. during standard time and 8:00 a.m. during savings time, and that way the cows are milked at the same (actual) time each day. And if milking is done 1 hour after sunrise or something, then it won't matter what the farmer's watch says, he goes out at 6:30 a.m. or 7:30 a.m. depending of whether there's savings time or not. I don't see the problem.

Besides, the milking-schedule "problem" exists under our current 6-month Daylight Savings Time system, and having 4 additional weeks of DST would merely change the date in which there was a changeover from ST to DST and back, not increase the number of times it changes a year.