It is almost that time of year to do something really dumb! No, not dress up as Gumbi, have too many adult beverages, and fall flat on your face at a Halloween party. It is nearly that time of year for Daylight Savings Time! (DST) Check out this past blog post to read about the myriad of ways DST is bad for people, bad for the economy, and bad for the environment (Check out Standard Time or this facebook page for more opinions). Yes, it is really a dumb thing to do – something that was devised to help with energy conservation back when people lit their homes with whale blubber oil. I got news for everyone – we have electricity and light bulbs now. It is the 21st century.

I used to be like everyone else, just mindlessly changing my clock every Fall and every Spring because the government said so (and everyone else is doing it, so not changing your clocks would be a pain). Not everything the government says is correct or well-reasoned, and this is one of those cases. I used to believe the old idea that DST saves energy – that it made sense. It doesn’t. Despite loads of evidence about the negative outcomes of DST, pretty much everyone will go along with it again this year. In fact some people defend it quite vigorously, even without knowing the facts (such as - it WASTES energy!)

Defending DST on the fact that it is nice during the warm/Summer season in the northern part of the country to have an extra hour of daylight after work – is at least a defense based in reality. I understand. Keeping the “Summer” time all year long would be better than doing nothing. However, in the countries that have dropped DST (because it is stupid), and the states (part of Indiana and Arizona) that do not change their clocks, everything is fine. No one complains. I should know, I just got back from Arizona. Everyone was enjoying life and they don’t have to deal with all the negative side effects of DST.

Have a nice Tuesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew

Posted under Education, Environment, Seasonal Items