Thanks for the comments about Daylights Savings Time. I am glad a few other people question this archaic practice. Look, I know it is not the most earth-shattering problem in the world, but if we can easily remedy small things that are not good for society, we should.

After doing a little more research, it seems only about 70 countries (about a billion people) in the world use Daylight Savings Time. Which means less than 20 percent of the world mindlessly changes their clocks every Spring and Fall. Some major countries that do not waste time, energy, health, and resources to change their clocks include China, Japan, and most of Australia. Russia claimed they were going to drop it last year because it made no sense. Even the UK has considered dropping it.

I checked with the state government here in Wisconsin to see who has control over whether Wisconsin observes Daylight Savings Time (DST). The person I corresponded with says that the US government sets the policy, but that individual states can opt out. If pro Standard Time people wanted to get it changed, they would have to get a bill through the legislature and then it would have to be signed by the Governor. I probably could not write/sponsor the bill because people would probably hate me. Many people like the extra hour of daylight in the evenings during the Summer, and would like it to remain the same, even though a lot of bad things come along with the clock change. I think it would be hard to find a state legislator to bring it to the floor because it is one of those small issues that could be surprisingly divisive, no matter how logical remaining on Standard Time would be. I think there might be a better chance, politically of getting it changed at the national level. There are a lot of national politicians who claim to be for the environment and claim to want to save energy and resources. This would be the perfect opportunity to prove it. If the U.S changed back to Standard Time, I am sure the rest of the small fraction of the world that uses DST would follow.

Have a nice Wednesday! Meteorologist Justin Loew.

Posted under Seasonal Items