Daylight saaaavings

There's a lot I could say about the broad energy bill on the table. I should maybe read up on it a little more to really comment on what's going on (though "defeat of the provisions to cut oil use and increase use of renewable fuels as well as the fact that the measure sidestepped the issue of global warming and ignored automotive mileage standards" sounds bad).

But the weirdest, perhaps, is this:

In a provision that may be most noticed by Americans, daylight savings time would be extended in 2007, beginning on the second Sunday in March and lasting until the first Sunday in November, to save electricity.

It was at this point I looked up and verified the byline on the top of the page, making sure that I hadn't accidentally picked up a copy of The Onion, or wasn't reading a post to the internal humor list at work. Uh. What?

On thinking about it for a minute or two, thought, it seems to make sense. During the summer months, when daylight savings time is in effect, it's lighter later. This means it doesn't get light quite as early, but really, who gets up that early, anyhow? This is probably what legislators were banking on, here: that by extending those months during which it's lighter later, effectively prolonging summer (if one can call it that from mid-March until early November! -- I suppose the only place in the country where residents won't feel extremely affected is California, where it's always fucking summer), people will come home while it's still light out, and not have to turn on more lights until an hour later. That's a lot of electricity to be saved, and it sounds like a good idea. (Never mind that autoefficientcy standards are also a good fucking idea, but that's another post.)

But it's certainly weird to realize in no uncertain terms that things I've perceived as facts of nature are subject to governmental whims. It makes sense, once I think about it, that daylight savings time is just something someone decided on, but it's felt like such an entrenched institution, that I would never have dreamed of suggesting it be changed. It's as if they were proposing that the east coast be less humid, to save on air conditioning bills, in my mind. It makes perfect sense that it's something someone can just decide on, and I can frame it in terms of doing something good for the country, along the lines of wartime rationing (even if it fucks with your seasons), but it still feels a bit weird, à la, "I know! Let's put 35 days in July!"

Crazy.