Many of us don’t want to get rid of Daylight Savings Time, which extends sunlight later at night in the summer (which we like). We just want “later” sun in the winter. That means, get rid of “Standard Time” and keep “Daylight time” year round. That way, there would be less driving home from work in the dark in the winter.

And the idea behind savings electricity isn’t for mornings, it’s for the evenings when the whole family is home. If we had daylight savings time year round, then the first thing you do in the winter when you get home may not be turn on the lights. THAT’s why Bush made daylight savings time start earlier in the spring and end later in the fall. So even Bush accepted that daylight savings time is more attractive than standard time. Down with standard time I say.

(By the way, I’m not going to argue the “savings” in electricity, just think people are happier getting some sun at night, year round daylight savings is a better way to do that).

Without DST, by the time people get home from work and have dinner, they’ve got maybe 2-2.5 hours of sunlight for leisure. Having that extra hour makes a big difference. Most people don’t need the sun to be up at 4 in the morning. THAT was the point of DST as it was originally conceived, not conserving energy. I’ll be super-pissed at Obama if he does away with DST under the auspices of conserving energy.

@Guy – The reasoning is that in the winter people tend to stay inside anyway, so the extra hour of sunlight would be a waste. If DST worked the way you’re suggesting, civil twilight (i.e. when it is dark) would be at ~7:30p.m. around the summer solstice and ~6:30p.m. at the winter solstice.

In other words, there’d be hardly any sunlight in the evening hours all year round instead of just in the winter.

And while I have to disagree that my body not functioning as well for weeks afterward is making a major deal, I concede that’s not the point most people against DST are making (many of whom seem to live in areas that are not solar poor) nor does it seem to be any kind widespread phenomenon. *shrugs* It’s not like I can eradicate certain plant species because they makes me miserable in late August/September (which is basically what I understand to be your point, [and I agree] forgive me if I’m mistaken again.)

Somehow GreenDaily made the leap to “Obama looks to…” and BB ran with it to “Obama might…”

All we have is an op-ed.

Obama has not said anything one way or the other about DST!

They should simply make DST all year, or if you prefer, shift our time zone by one (1) hour, such that the sun ALWAYS sets later.

There is no reason for the sun to rise as early as it does. Zero. I love it in the Summer that I get light until like 9:30, and I hate it in the winter when it’s getting dark in the city by 4PM!

It’s the SHIFT twice a year that is unnecessary and annoying: everyone loves the extra daylight in the evening!

I’m slightly incredulous that so many people here seem to accept the concept that the president can interfere in everyday matters that are clearly local, not national. While this may seem trivial, I think it’s just another example of the accretion of power around the chief executive. Bush saw himself as an imperial president; I won’t be surprised if there’s no rollback from that position. Anyone who spends two years fighting to be president obviously wants as much power as possible.

And Leap Day should be an international holiday “out of time,” as well. Without a name, just “Leap Day,” stuck between whatever two days it falls in. A free day. That adjustment alone could secure programmers, mathematicians, calendar makers, and philosophers with full employment through the current economic downturn.

Paradigm change you can believe in!

I suspect that a comparison of energy usage between DST and no DST would be a wash. But that’s not why we should do keep doing it.

I live in the Pacific NW and long ago accepted that it’s just dark, dark, dark all the time in the winter. This makes it even more critical to get all the daylight you can the rest of the year… I soak up as much as possible when I can, knowing that I’m going to need its effects (or the memory of them) in but a few months. You should see it around here when we finally get a day of sun and warmth in early spring… humans sunning themselves like lizards on rocks (me most certainly included).

If you work business hours and your schedule doesn’t change over the year, having that extra light in the evening to do things outside is golden and savored.

I suspect that those of us along the 45th parallel or higher likely appreciate the effects of DST a bit more than those in more southern areas.

I think the earlier mention of having DST begin at spring equinox and end at fall equinox is a great idea. Simple, easy to remember, stays the same every year. Stretching DST out to November is a bit too much and abuses the concept, though.

The reason they don’t do that is because the sun wouldn’t rise until after 8am in the winter (and it’d still be pretty dark until close to 9am) and would only postpone sunset until 5:30p.m.

The problem is that kids would be going to school in the dark for a period of a few months (as opposed to the couple weeks in the fall before DST ends) and people don’t generally want their kids out on the streets in the dark as the risk of them getting hit by a car is much greater.

I see what you did there. ;)

So does the headline.

I like your style! Even when the thread contradicts your point, you make it anyway. Cheers!

Surely there’s a solution. It’s not the energy; it’s the sanity-giving natural daylight.

> So does the headline.

OK, you’re technically right about the headline. Who knows, he might make Swedish the official language of the U.S., too.

But the first line of the post says, “President-elect Obama wants to get rid of daylight saving time in the United States to conserve energy.” That is false, or, at least, there’s no way for us to know because Obama hasn’t said anything about it.

Reading this BB post would lead a great many people astray into thinking that ditching DST is part of Obama’s plan. It isn’t.

To think that trying to master time by constantly “changing” it is just silly. Let nature be nature, it is the master not us.

“Local sunrise for today will be at 14:54, sunset at 00:54″

Hmm, maybe hope doesn’t spring eternal.

Not everybody can do that. Most bosses don’t allow their employees to adjust their schedules seasonally. And if you have other responsibilities after work – say, kids or a second job or whatnot, “early to bed” doesn’t really work well, either. Besides which, a lot of the things one might do with daylight after the workday are not realistic or even possible pursuits at 5:00 AM.

Another option is to either find an employer or start your own business where you can work beginning at daybreak rather than 9-5, if it’s really that important.

Because of course there are so many employers out there who offer that kind of schedule to administrative assistants, accountants, etc…. And starting one’s own business is free, easy and a guaranteed success, with no negative trade-offs in benefits, etc. Right. I want to live in your world, wherever that is.