Alexander Abad-Santos, in a piece that appeared at the Atlantic, explains why DST is bad (h/t Bil Browning).
Energy savings are minimal to non-existent, it costs us more, it disrupts our sleep cycle, it’s bad for our health and productivity, and it doesn’t help any farmers.
Why do we do this to ourselves again?
Damn it, Doug, why won’t you ever think of the children!
Farmers? To help the farmers? Hadn’t heard that one. It stems from World War One, to make a fractional amount more ammunition to kill people with.
I would like to see the data that show it’s bad for our health and productivity, aside from the claims that seem, frankly, hysterical.
I think the burden of proof is on those who want DST.
So we can rediscover all the clocks in our house we’d forgotten we had?
worst part is having to wake up at 2:00 a.m. to change all the clocks. I mean why not have the time change at noon so it is easier?
I believe that Indiana DST has been a disaster. First, living on the west edge of time zone already gives out DST. On the west coast, it is time disruption. But more important, can the business community support the business case?
Live in NW or SW Indiana? Changing time makes a lot of sense there. Makes it easier to live with Illinois, specifically Chicago (the 800 pound gorilla) where many Hoosiers work.
@Stuart: If no one, not even Illinois, did DST then NW/SW Indiana would not have to do so either. Perhaps you referring specifically to Indiana DST. As I recall before statewide DST NW/SW Indiana did DST on their own.
I do agree with you that it would be nice to see data that it is bad for our health, etc. Or conversely data that shows that it is good for our economy, etc.
In any case as much as I liked Indiana being an independent holdout against DST I do think that it is a good idea for us to do DST when everyone else is also doing DST. I no longer have to figure out what time I am compared to New York, Chicago or California. It is always the same: +0, +1 hour, +3 hours.
Good point about the idea that if everyone eliminated DST, we wouldn’t have to struggle with an added problem. Life is hard enough. Then we would only have to deal with time zones which is another animal.
If everyone went to Universal Coordinated Time or Zulu time it would make things a lot easier. If a business says its hours are 1200Z-2200Z no matter where you are you would know if it was open by looking at the clock.
As far as the issue with sleep disruption, you go to bed at 10. now you turn back the clock. you wake up and the next day you go to bed at 10 but your body still thinks it is 11. You have now created a sleep debt. It takes awhile for your body to readjust to this.
“Why do we do this to ourselves again?”
Because we could.
Because all the cool states do DST.
Because history is on the side of DST.
All the usual arrogant, positive law, screw-nature-we’re-more-powerful-than-that bullshit.
How ironic that the biggest proponents were the Chamber of Commerce and our former governor, both rumored to be, in some vague sense, “conservative.”
John Gregg was once a big opponent of DST, but he reversed himself. If he had continued his opposition, he would be Governor now.
My little DST rituals: set the clocks, check out Doug’s blog for his post on DST, mess up my car radio settings as I rediscover which buttons to push to reset the clock…
Festivus has the Airing of Grievances. DST has Doug’s blog post.
After my last post (done at the tail end of work) I drove home and thought about DST. In thinking about the past several years of DST I *really* like it. Not because of DST itself — that I can take or leave — but because I no longer have to struggle with everyone else trying to figure out “Indiana time”. All of my out-of-state relatives, friends and business acquaintances no longer ask me “what time is it there?” and then have me explain how Indiana does not follow DST. They know what time it is here and no-one has to waste brain cells thinking about it. I’ve probably saved more time that way than it has taken me to change clocks. :-)
I hate DST. I wish the entire nation would stop doing it. It’s bad enough that Indiana has 2 time zones, and NW Indiana is considered part of the metropolitan Chicago area (Or is it just the opposite – it’s bad enough that the rest of Indiana is not on central standard time.) Be done with it – DST serves no purpose.
John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight” had a very funny “How is this still a thing?” re: Daylight Savings Time. View the following link… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br0NW9ufUUw [Language alert for those who might be offended.]