The time has come to turn the clocks back this weekend. Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday, November 2 at 2 a.m. This year, for the first time DST ran four additional weeks. But why?According to The Bismarck Tribune, some people insist on having an early daylight savings time, because it pushes us out of our homes in order to enjoy that extra hour of sun. We've gone to the park, to the golf course, or to the shopping mall. Sales boost as the time change co-exists with warm weather.
Scott Herman, owner of the Raging Burrito in Decatur, GA., says of 2007's DST "The time change, boosted sales. Nighttime sales at the restaurant and bar, which has a 150-seat garden patio, were up 30% in the three weeks after March 11 compared with the past four years' average for the same period. It's one of the greatest moves the government's ever done."
Maybe it is. How do we get to all of these wonderful places? We drive.
The average gasoline demand for the three week time period after 2007's DST rose 2.8% from the same time a year prior. According to the U.S. Energy Dept, this was the highest gasoline demand ever for the time period. However, with high demand comes high prices.
It is understandable that DST can boost sales when combined with warm weather, and increase gasoline demand. However, the million dollar question remains: Why, in 2008, has DST been extended an additional four weeks?
Click below for more information on DST:
End daylight-saving time
History of DST
Early DST backfires
1 comment:
The US DOT performed a study in the 1970s that showed that DST can increase oil consumption, as people tend to stay out later, driving more, using more gasoline. Exactly the opposite to what proponents of DST claim. The energy savings claim is bogus, the only logical reason is one of desire: People want the extra hour of daylight in the summer.
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