END DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME: PART THREE
A BLOG FOR :
THE MOVEMENT TO END DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
Part Three: Letter to the Editor at the Hartford Courant
Letter to the Editor,
END DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
Standard Time is a term often used for moving the clocks forward in the Spring, which causes confusion for discussing DST. The confusion comes about because when we "spring forward" some say we are on Standard Time, but both seasonal clock changes are part of the DST system. Most of the world is on Standard Time, which is the same time setting when we spring forward the clocks.
International trade suffers from DST because of the time differences between nations. Most nations use Standard Time, not DST, resulting in shipping problems at our ports. Likewise, DST changes wreaks havoc twice a year for airline, train and bus boarding. Also, there are national shipping problems because some states implement DST differently, along with innumerable other scheduling problems. Cumulatively, this adds up to billions of dollars of waste over time (no pun intended).
Confusion from DST time changes costs American workplaces millions of dollars in worker productivity. Think about the courts whose schedules are thrown off, and the stewardess who handles confused passengers. Don't forget about the computer glitches that wreak havoc in workplaces and all those circular clocks needing maintenance - these add up to untold millions of dollars in waste.
Car accidents go up 7-8%, the days clocks change putting you and your loved ones at risk. But that is just the beginning. According to a 2012 University of Alabama study, heart attacks rise 10% after the clocks change. The New England Journal of Medicine supports this finding while other studies show that strokes go up as well.
The reason is simple. Our biological clocks don't adjust like a mechanism, and this disparity causes significant changes in our bodies causing major consequences. Less dramatically are the number of people who have trouble adjusting to the DST changes. They suffer depression and sleeplessness, adding to lost worker productivity and adding to more public unhappiness.
Few people consider the environmental impact of the DST. In the fall, every workplace and public space turns on lights and heat earlier. Since office buildings stay open at night longer then morning the fall time change requires greater lighting requirements.
A 2008 study done by Mathew Kotchen for the National Bureau of Economic Research finds a net loss for energy conservation for springtime DST changes. In the nation's warmer regions the spring time DST change wastes energy with greater air condition energy use. Another study shows that DST creates at least 1% increase in energy use. That may sound small but the massive amount of energy consumption by America is staggering no matter how it is calculated. A 1% minimum increase seriously impacts the environment, health and economy of our nation.
The most wonderful aspect to this problem is that by simply switching to Standard Time nationally impacts the economy, health and the environment enormously. It is a simple practical way to make everything better for everyone. Please contact seth181818@gmail.com
NEXT - PART FOUR: I GOT TO THE LETTER BEFORE CATALOGING CITATIONS AND RESOURCES. THOSE WILL BE IN PART 4.
SIGN THE PETITION
TELL CONGRESS TO END DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME
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