Posted on 07/29/2005 3:57:42 PM PDT by BenLurkin
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) As Congress voted to extend daylight-saving time, some parents whose children wait for school buses in the morning darkness doubted whether an extra month of daylight is such a bright idea.
"I don't think that it's safe," said Nikki McIntosh of Little Rock, whose children Myah, 12, and Alex, 11, occasionally ride a bus to school.
Congress on Friday gave final approval to an energy bill that includes a four-week expansion of daylight-saving time in an effort to save energy. If President Bush signs the bill, most Americans would see their clocks "spring forward" the second Sunday of March and "fall back" the first Sunday of November, beginning in 2007.
Daylight-saving time now starts on the first Sunday of April and ends the last Sunday of October.
According to Congress' thinking, if Americans can wait an hour to turn on their lights at night, the nation should be able to conserve at least some energy.
"It won't be a huge savings, but it'll offset fuel costs. Every little bit helps," said Sue Clothier, 40, of Gansevoort, N.Y.
The extra hours will also give her more time to garden and spend outdoors with her three dogs, she said. "It's like extending the summer for four weeks," she said.
But the tradeoff for parents with school-age children is an extra 20 weekdays of sending pupils off to class in the dark and having them stay up later at night.
Lynnette Ryan of Colorado Springs, Colo., is already anticipating the battles with her children, now aged 1 and 5.
"It's going to be hard on them because they'll be going to day care in the dark. Then they come home, and it's going to be light in the evening -- and they're not going to want to go to bed," said Ryan, visiting her mother Friday in Morgantown, W.Va.
The change, though, would be beneficial for some farmers who would get an extra hour of daylight for a longer portion of the year.
Al Davis, who raises cattle in southwestern Cherry County, Neb., said the new daylight-saving plan will be helpful for his operation on the eastern side of the Mountain time zone.
"It gets dark here at 4 p.m. on the darkest day of the year," Davis said. "So this will be advantageous to us."
Jan Koch, who with her husband milks 250 cows and farms 500 acres near De Forest in southern Wisconsin, was mostly disgusted with Congress, but not for any effect the change would have on her farm.
"If that is the best Congress can come up with for an energy idea, we are in trouble," she said. "They should be able to come up with something better than that to save energy."
Matt Hand, 29, of Manhattan, said that even a few minutes more of sunshine would be welcomed in the fields where he sometimes plays frisbee after work -- even in the chill of autumn.
"It's not the temperature that stops us. It's when you can't see anymore," he said, resting by the edge of Central Park with his bicycle.
Others though, said the change would just add to the list of things to worry about.
"Why screw with my calendar year? I have such a busy life," said Jesse Jette of Albany, N.Y. "This is just one more thing to remember."
Sorry for the confusion. I just reposted the statement that I was responding to. Essentially, I was going ...
Huh!? too!
Doesn't upset me. I live where the sun is there 6 months out of the year and not there the other 6 months.
I just think it's funny that some politician in DC thinks it's a feather in his cap.
You are just too darn funny...ROFLMAO!!
Excuse me?! How is that possible if you work your own hours from daylight until dark?! Who is stopping anyone from doing that?!
""Stand up for your right to set your own time!""
That would do wonders for commerce
How is it you confuse standardization of time zones with the pointless requirement that Americans change their clocks twice a year?
and for all that matter . . .
Why do you favor the arbitrary exercise of governmental power over our daily routines?
Well stated.
DST is stupid, move to Arizona or Hawaii, we don't do that crap.
ummmmmmmm??????
It would only be light "until FReepin' midnight" in mid summer, which we already have. If you use daylight savings time in the northern hemispehere in November it's light until, oh say, 6 PM. Now, your comment "And dark in the morning" is spot on, but that's obviously not the meat of your argument.
Think things through just a bit. I agree with your point, but the arguments are getting in the way.
Happens to me WAY TOO OFTEN. ;^>
You know what really bugs me about this whole thing? DST goes from the first week in March to the last week in November. That means "standard time" only covers December, January and February. Hardly sounds "standard" to me, now does it?
if you get excised over DST, you have far too much free time on your hands. I appreciate the extra hour of daylight after I get off work and have no problems what so ever with congress mandating a twice yearly time change.
This is hardly an intrusive threat to our rights
I was in Aukeryri, Iceland once, sun set at 1:01 am, and rose at 1:21 am.
Spent the whole night in a bar.
I think mcuh of the far right opposition to DST is based on the strange notion that standard time is "Gods Time"
FRiends, do you think our typso participant is a troll, or just a no0b who hasn't figured out that we're proud to be Far Right around here?
Its the same daylight, just changing the clock does nothing.
There was a guy on Hugh Hewitt's show who wrote a book about this, it was started so that Wall Street traders had more standardization, the most recent bill is bankrolled by candy makers, why? They want more people out on Halloween so they can sell more.
Its freaking stupid, if you want to maximize your time, move to the equator.
Nam Vet
I'm just venting :-). As a pregnant woman, I claim the right to not make sense every time.
If every community was free to set its own time, it would complicate commerce and I dont mean visiting your local 7-11. it would be hell for airline /train/bus schedulers
Yeah, I'm missing the endless night and endless day by only 60 miles.
I fail to see the relationship(s). Most companies who did not have a century code embedded in EPROMs or in their date data conversion files *could* have had an issue. None of my JD Edwards clients had an issue with the Y2K issue. The government had nothing to do with the private enterprise sector.
If you want me spell it out in technical terms, be my guest.
there is a differece between conservative and being to the right of the New American
Piffle. You're the one who set up the strawman of "every community setting its own time," anyway. We far right kooks just want Standard Time.
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