Springing ahead and falling back will happen for a larger portion of the year than ever before.
What used to take place between April and September, thanks to the new Energy Policy Act of 2005, will change daylight-saving time to March through October.
July 29, was a historic day; with it came the passing of the first comprehensive energy bill in more than a decade. Congress passed the bill by a 74-26 vote.
President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 on Aug. 8, in Albuquerque, N.M., at Sandia National Laboratories.
Beginning in 2007, daylight-saving time begins one month earlier and ends one month later.
This begins for most of the United States at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, running through 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November.
What this change means is more “daylight” hours in March and September. When put in place in the 1970s, the idea behind daylight-saving was to get people outside, causing the use of less energy than if they were indoors by extending the time by one hour, according to Bob Aldrich, former information officer of the California Energy Commission.
Students around campus like having the option of adding more sunlight to their days.
“I think it’s a good idea. I enjoy that [daylight-saving time] part of the bill,” said Luc Steadman, a junior from Nampa, Idaho. Many students expressed the same sentiment.
A poll done by the U.S. Department of Transportation indicated that Americans liked daylight-saving time because they can do more things while it is light outside.
It is hoped that the new energy bill will continue this positive feedback and increase it as the bill increases hours of sunlight.
Goals that the energy bill hopes to accomplish include “strengthen our nation’s electrical infrastructure, reduce our dependence upon foreign oil, to increase conservation and to expand the use of clean renewable energy,” according to the Department of Energy Web site, www.doe.gov.
The bill shows standards that have been adopted by the federal government to accomplish its goals. These standards, available at the D.O.E. Web site, include ethanol standards, appliance efficiency and tax credits for renewable energies, prevention of future electricity blackouts, fuel cell technology, coal, tribal lands, geothermal energy, oil and natural gas.
Benefits to American families are not only environmental, they are also monetary. Conservation measures give direct aid to the people that decide to use this system.
Consumers not only get what they want, they also get it at a discount, something that few people, especially students on a budget, can refuse. “I think that it will eventually be useful to me. We’re all getting older, we’d better start paying attention,” said Ty Capson, a junior from Blackfoot, Idaho.
Opponents of the Energy Bill, such as the Natural Resources Defense Council, say that although the bill makes attempts at solving the present energy crisis, they go about it in the wrong way.
Whether one is for or against the Energy Bill and expanded daylight-saving time, conservation is key to decreasing national dependence on foreign oil, while increasing energy and cost-efficiency of products used daily.
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