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(Image source: The Washington Post / Linda Davidson)
BY ZACH TOOMBS
Daylight Saving Time will push most U.S. clocks forward one hour Sunday — from 2 a.m. to
3 a.m. And, despite coming every year, the switch still has its critics who say this
year should be its last.
It’s meant to save electricity costs by leaving Americans with more hours of sun in
the evening. A 2005 law actually expanded Daylight Saving Time. (Via KRQE)
And a Department of Energy study two years later, found the measure does save energy
use … though, just .03 of a percent. Critics say the increased air conditioner use during
extended daylight hours makes that negligible.
Chronobiologist Bora Zivkovic is one of those critics. In Scientific American, he writes
even one hour less of sleep means
“...traffic accidents increase, workplace
injuries go up and, perhaps most telling, incidences of heart attacks rise sharply.”
The policy has some archaic roots. Benjamin Franklin introduced Daylight Saving Time after
noticing candle wax was saved by extending daylight hours. (Via Wikimedia Commons)
A White House petition is just one of many sources saying the program is dated and has
to go. (Via the White House)
Arizona and Hawaii, along with U.S. territories, won’t have to deal with the time change
— they’re all exempt from Daylight Saving Time.