Since it's apparent that the upcoming election will shuffle the state government around at least a little, I thought it'd be a great time to start a discussion on DST.
Our neighbor to the west, Arizona, is quite content to not have DST. Is there any good reason for us not to discontinue this silly practice?
Let's take a Zoidberg-eyed look at DST.
What if the government said to you, from now on.. you are supposed to get up an hour earlier for work, eat lunch an hour earlier, and go to bed an hour early?
Sure, you could rebel. But the masses are basically doing it with or without your participation. Your boss, lunch associates, and family expect you to do it too.
Not only does the government do that, and everybody accepts it, but they're sneaky about it. And they can't decide how many months out of the year to do it (just pick a system and stick with it!), or when it should start or when it should stop.
According to a number of sources, including
wikipedia, the arguments they keep using to justify first having the system, then changing it all the time, are dubious at best.
*Saving energy. Let's think about this. Most DST is during hot months. When you get home an hour earlier, odds are the house is that much hotter than it would have been an hour later. On goes the air conditioner, and one more hour of juice gets used up. (Some people may leave their house at 70° 24/7 whether they're home or not but I wouldn't imagine that's terribly common). That extra morning hour at work involves far less energy saved, since it's cooler at that time of day. Isn't that great? Not only does DST cost us more, but it transfers energy costs from employers to homeowners and renters.
*Reduction of night-time accidents. Multiple studies show that accidents spike, probably in excess of any annual savings, during these abrupt time shifts, because it sleep deprives Americans.
*Saving money. They calculated in 2007 that the time change cost America between $500M and $1B. Not a bad place to start when people talk about cutting wasteful government spending.
We wouldn't be alone in this cause if we decided to take it up; Arizona and Hawaii would stand side by side with us if we decided this mercurial and ill-advised government experiment was discontinued in the Land of Enchantment. I've added a poll to see if the readers of this board would support a politician enacting legislation discontinuing NM participation in DST.