Daylight saving

Sunday is “spring forward” day as we enter Daylight Saving Time (DST)—and yes it is “saving” instead of savings—for another eight months.

DST is one of those things we are so used to we’ve just accepted it. But those who do have an opinion usually have a strong one, pro or con.

One of the most recent polls indicated only about one-half of Americans even understand the purpose behind DST.

It’s obviously not to “give us an extra hour of sunlight!” We get the same amount of sunlight per 24 hours whether we are on DST or not. It just shifts an hour of daylight from a part of the day when most people are already working, or going to work, to a time when they are not.

DST actually began in a small portion of Canada in 1908 but it got its big start 1n 1916 during World War I. First Germany and its ally, Austria, then the rest of the then-warring powers instituted DST to help with their war efforts.

How? That shift of an hour of daylight was thought to minimize the time that artificial lighting would be needed, thus saving energy for the war. Whether that savings actually happened, countries went back to standard time once the war ended.

World War II saw something called “war time,” which was essentially the same thing. By the end of that decade the idea became more popular in the U. S. and by 1966 it was the law of the land.

That’s when Congress passed a law allowing, but not mandating, it. States have the authority to choose whether to institute DST or not. And three of them—well, two and a half—chose not to do it.

Indiana, Hawaii and Arizona opted out.

Interestingly, a more recent study by the state of Indiana showed power usage sightly increased during DST. Its conclusion: “Back in the day” putting that extra hour of daylight at the end of the workday probably did save some energy but with the advent of high tech everybody is essentially using energy all the time, day or night, awake or asleep.

But Indiana went back on DST in 2006. The Navajo Nation in Arizona does observe DST, even though the rest of the state does not. It’s a unique reason. The sprawling “Dine’tah” (“Land of the People” in Navajo, nicknamed “The Big Rez,” by everybody) overlaps three states, Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. This way the entire reservation stays on the same time.

(But—with DST there’s always a “but”—the Hopi Reservation, which is entirely surrounded by The Big Rez, does not go on DST.)

Americans are pretty divided on DST. Through the first part of next week you’re going to hear complaints such as “my kids are waiting for the school bus in the dark” and “it takes me a month to get back that hour of sleep.”

On the other hand, people involved in youth sports, after school activities and anything else outdoors will love having the hours of daylight extended. We will (yawn) all do our best—M.B.