Let There be Light

Look forward to longer days; the new time change goes into effect Sunday, March 11. Photo by Tracy Rolling

By Tracy Rolling

Have you ever wondered why we move our clocks forward one hour in the spring, only to set them back one hour in the fall?

Daylight Savings Time (DST) is a traditional attempt at squeezing as much daylight out of a 24-hour period as possible. This is so that we can enjoy longer days and extra activities after work and school, not to mention the worldly impact it has on conserving energy, reducing traffic collisions and lowering crime rates.

The idea was first introduced by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 when he wrote the essay "An Economic Project." Franklin, then 78, was living in

Paris and in addition to his passion for inventing, he had a deep love for the economy.

In his essay, Franklin shares that he was surprised to find his room so full of sunlight early one spring morning. Immediately, he consulted an almanac discovering that the sun was rising earlier and earlier; thus the idea to exchange one morning hour for one in the evening.

Although Franklin's essay boasted a strong argument, time would not change.

In 1907 William Willett wrote a pamphlet, "Waste of Daylight." In 1916 it was Willett's paper that inspired the British Parliament to introduce Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).

During 1918 to 1919, in an effort to conserve resources during World War I, the United States decided to adopt the time change. However, it was considered unpopular and DST was not re-implemented until 1942 during World War II.

This time the U.S. was quick to take advantage of conserving oil and energy, particularly during war time.

Between 1945 and 1966, there was no U.S. law regarding DST. Each state was free to observe the time change at its discretion. This created confusion, especially for the transportation agencies and broadcast media. In 1966 Congress put into practice "The Uniform Time Act of 1966." DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October.

However, another change is on the horizon, on Aug. 8, 2005 Congress approved "The Energy Policy Act of 2005" and President George W. Bush signed it into law.

The new DST will begin three weeks earlier than in previous years and lengthen by one week, ending on the first Sunday in November. The policy (and DST) goes into effect on at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 11. Most of us will change our clocks and watches forward one hour, and the rest of us will simply go back to using the old ones we set aside last October.