Daylight Saving Time was originally proposed in 1895 by New Zealand entomologist George Hudson as a means to extend the amount of time where he could catch insects. The idea was brought up by others independently over time — including Benjamin Franklin, to whom DST is normally attributed — but its first implementation wasn’t until 1916, when the German Empire and Austria-Hungary adopted it as a means to conserve coal during wartime. Although DST was established in the U.S. by the Standard Time Act of 1918, its widespread observance didn’t come until the 1970s, after the Uniform Time Act was established in 1966, as a result of the energy crisis of the time.
Since then, there have been several changes to the law, the most recent amendment coming from the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which mandated DST be expanded to eight months, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
The purpose of DST
DST proponents argue the event allows for savings on energy costs due to the reduced amount of daylight hours. But critics have called the reasoning into question, saying actual energy savings reports are inconclusive.
In 2008, the United States Department of Energy released a report stating the temporary expansion of DST in 2007 saved a total of 0.5 percent on electricity usage across the nation, but it did not look at all eight months and also did not measure heating costs. A study of energy bills in Indiana the same year, which was the first time the state widely recognized DST, showed an increase in electricity consumption of up to 4 percent across the state due to extra cooling and heating usage. Other factors, including health risks and economic fluctuations, are used to fuel both sides of the issue.
Observation in question
Not all parts of the U.S. observe the event, despite the mandates. Most notably, Arizona and Hawaii, as well as Puerto Rico and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, do not recognize DST. The only exceptions are some Native American nations, such as the Navajo.
This year, states including Colorado, Wyoming, and Maine are considering at least 24 bills on how to handle DST, evenly split between establishing permanent DST or permanent standard time. Federal law does not normally allow a state to observe permanent DST, but a work-around does allow a state to move itself into the next time zone to the east. Ohio is not presently considering any changes to DST observance.
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