Biking after sunset

After it got dark yesterday, I took my bike on about a three mile ride. It was exhilarating! On the way back, I noticed a ball game was going on in the park with the lights on. I also noticed a backyard party with outdoor flood lights illuminating the event. I thought if the sun had set at 6:12 p.m. Mountain Standard Time instead of 7:12 p.m., people would still be able to enjoy the same events. We don't need government coerced clock-changing to have a great time. The bike ride went very well, even in the dark. It would have been much more desireable to have a 6:23 a.m. sunrise to make it a much less dreary morning. We don't need daylight-saving time, we can manage very well, and even thrive, without it!

A beautiful evening in Phoenix!

This past weekend, my family went to an outdoor restaurant in Phoenix. The temperature that day was near 100°, but when nightfall came around 7:00 p.m., it cooled down a bit to make a picture-perfect evening. A mist maker machine would spray on you, making it very comfortable.

I thought about how these earlier sunsets make for such a better scenario to enjoy evening activities. When we have warm weather in most of Utah, by the time it gets dark it's too late to enjoy evening activities outdoors because you still have to get up early to go to work in the morning. Just another great reason to abolish daylight-saving time.

where's the study?

According to United States Code Title 15 Chapter Subchapter IX § 260a [note from Public Law 109–58—AUG. 8, 2005 Section 110] clearly states:
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 9 months after the effective date stated in subsection (b), the Secretary shall report to Congress on the impact of this section on energy consumption in the United States.
(d) RIGHT TO REVERT.—Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedules once the Department study is complete.

According to my calculations, this report was due in December 2007. To date, the report has not been released.

We all ought to call our Senators and Representatives to ask where the report is. It is long overdue.

DST & a snow storm

It was interesting hearing about all the problems with this morning's snow storm. I noticed the sun didn't come out until 8:40 a.m. I was thinking how many problems with accidents and car slide-offs would have been mitigated if the sun came out at 7:40 a.m. Then more snow would have melted and the roads wouldn't have been so icy during the heaviest part of the morning commute. Just another reason why we ought to remain on standard time.

Wait a couple weeks

When I saw someone wearing a black dress who I know favors daylight-saving time yesterday, I mentioned they were wearing an appropriately colored dress on this "Black Sunday." I call the day we are coerced to change our clocks "Black Sunday."

When I told her I will miss the beautiful luminous mornings, she curtly said, "Wait a couple of weeks." I looked it up. On Saturday, March 8th, the sun rose at 6:50 am on standard time. I told her we wouldn't have a 6 am sunrise until May. In two weeks, on March 23rd, the sun will be up at 7:25 am, thirty-five minutes behind the standard time sunrise prior to the switch.

It won't be until April 13th when the sun will rise at 6:51 am on daylight-saving time. This DST proponent should wait a couple weeks on standard time when the sun will set at 6:43 pm on March 23rd as opposed to 6:27 pm on March 8th.

If Utah abandons DST, the sun will still set two minutes later on standard time on June 21st than it would in San Diego on DST. On that day the sun sets in San Diego at 8:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time; it would set in Salt Lake City at 8:02 pm Mountain Standard Time. That puts some things in perspective.

Daylight-saving gas price increase

Higher gas prices usually accompany the change to daylight-saving time. Now we get the increases four weeks earlier than usual this year. If we were still doing it the pre-2007 way, we wouldn't be changing the time for another four weeks.

It makes sense that people will be driving more in the evening daylight. The increased demand will cause a price hike. If we stayed on standard time, I'm sure the price increases would occur even later in the spring.

DST wastes energy by higher A/C use

A 27 February 2008 Wall Street Journal article cites a study comparing Indiana's energy consumption off and on daylight saving time. The study concludes that increased evening air conditioning use more than offset the reduced cost of lighting. Here's the link to the article:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120406767043794825-UOLcfJA8x9Gw9ozbCz77MiLmtaE_20080327.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top