Congress is meddling again with daylight-saving time and this does not bode well for the farmer. On Wednesday the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a proposal sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., that would add two more months of daylight-saving time. If adopted as part of the energy bill, the country would “spring forward” in March and “fall back” in November.
Supporters of the bill claim that the effect would not only reduce energy consumption but also lower crime, reduce traffic accidents and promote more economic activity. But there is little evidence to support these claims. Michael Downing, author of a new book, Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time, say that the energy claim is “overblown.” “It appears to save a little bit of electricity. And in April or October, it saves some home heating fuel in the Northeast,” he says. People may not turn on their lights as early in the evening, but they woul turn them on in the morning for a longer period of time.
Those who would be most effected by the change are farmers, schoolchildren and American workers who begin their workday at 8 a.m. of earlier. For farmers, especially dairy farmers, four or five hours of their workday would be in darkness. Dairy cows have no regard for the clock; farmers would be getting up to milk at 2 a.m. Schoolchildren and workers would be waiting for transportation in more many more weeks of darkness than they currently do.
Indiana State Rep. F. Dale Grubb has the right idea: “Why on earth don’t [they] worry about things like the federal deficit or Social Security?” Indiana is the maverick state that is split in the middle by two time zones and is in a never-ending debate about daylight-saving time.
So who supports adding more months of daylight-saving time? According to author Downing, the biggest lobbyists represent the barbeque makers and the golf courses!
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