Law Springs Daylight Savings 3 Weeks Up

Daylight Savings Time comes three weeks early this year. As a result of the Energy Act of 2005, the annual spring forward will occur this Sun., March 11 at 2 a.m.

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changes the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Under that inutile policy, Daylight Savings Time began the first Sunday in April, and ended the last Sunday in October.
 
The change to Daylight Savings Time is one of the more controversial portions of the act, as critics dispute whether extending Daylight Savings Time will result in a net saving of energy.

However, a 2006 report by the Department of Energy  anticipates electricity savings of four-tenths of a percent each day of the extended Daylight Savings Time.

In terms of an environmental effect, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy predicts a 10.8 million ton drop in carbon emissions.

Computer experts and other techies have expressed concern over the early change, and have even dubbed the possible effects, “The Daylight Savings Bug.”

Similar to the fears surrounding Y2K, experts fear that personal computers, digital cameras and other personal electronics may be thrown off by the switch.

In fact, Microsoft has released a patch for it’s Windows operating systems to prepare for the early change.

Primarily, the time zone settings and calendar programs on computers could be affected without the necessary patch.

However, individual people are not expected to suffer big from this possible technology glitch.

Experts say that companies will be hit in this “Mini y2k.”
The changes could possibly affect company budgets, security systems, schedules and other communications.

However, most companies have had time to update their systems.

Daylight Savings Time first started in the United States in 1918 when congress formally established time zones. Although railroads had used time zones since the 1880’s, the law was highly unpopular.

Aside from energy saving, Daylight Savings Time has proven to have other beneficial effects.

A 1970’s study conducted by the U.S. Law Enforcement Assistance Association found that the time change contributed to a 10-13 percent drop in violent crime in Washington D.C.

The same series of studies also found that the time change was associated with a 0.7 percent reduction in traffic fatalities.
Even in the event of technological glitches, all is expected to return to normal after the old Daylight Savings Time the first Sunday in April.