# Extending Daylight Savings Time to save oil?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [April 7, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244 "2005-04-07T16:52:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/1 "2005-04-07T16:52:33Z")
According to [this](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20050407/pl_nm/energy_congress_dc) yahoo news story, a House committe has voted to extend daylight savings time by two months (1 month each direction). It will now run from March thru November.
Will this really have much effect on energy use in today’s environment? As much as I relish the idea of more daytime in the afternoons, I can’t believe it will make that much difference.
Your opinions?
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### Author:  [@Good\_Egg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Good_Egg)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/2 "2005-04-07T17:21:53Z")
Are you pulling my leg? Did they really? I am so happy if its true. I doubt it would save oil, though. Didn’t they try that back in 1973-74?
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### Author:  [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/3 "2005-04-07T18:13:58Z")
It might not be for the ‘right’ reasons, but I’d welcome the change!
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### Author:  [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)
#### Post date: [April 7, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/4 "2005-04-07T23:49:46Z")
Well, I wouldn’t. I have to get up at 6:30, and the last thing I need is two more months of getting up in the dark. I especially don’t need it because some politicians think it will make us consume one-twentieth of one percent less oil.
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### Author:  [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/5 "2005-04-08T00:15:39Z")
> [@Good Egg](#):
>
> Didn’t they try that back in 1973-74?
Yes, and my recollection was that they found that it was far too dangerous for children to be walking to, and waiting for busses in the pitch dark in the winter months, so they scrapped it. However, [this cite](http://www.energy.ca.gov/daylightsaving.html) seems to make a different claim:
> [@](#):
>
> Following the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo, Congress put most of the nation on extended Daylight Saving Time for two years in hopes of saving additional energy. This experiment worked, but Congress did not continue the experiment in 1975 because of opposition – mostly from the farming states.
… the inference I take to mean that farmers didn’t like having to either work in the dark in the mornings, or extend their workday to the later evening in order to get the same number of daylight hours.
And while it expresses it as a positive, it admits that the winter months were more dangerous for morning commuters and school children, which kindof backs up my memories:
> [@](#):
>
> (Emphasis mine)
>
> Daylight Saving Time saves lives and prevents traffic injuries. The earlier Daylight Saving Time allowed more people to travel home from work and school in daylight, which is much safer than darkness. And **except for the months of November through February** , Daylight Saving Time does not increase the morning hazard for those going to school and work.
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### Author:  [@MaceMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaceMan)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2005, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/6 "2005-04-08T05:15:21Z")
> [@Shayna](#):
>
> And while it expresses it as a positive, it admits that the winter months were more dangerous for morning commuters and school children, which kindof backs up my memories:
Actually, it does not “admit” this. It states that DST reduces traffic accidents in the evenings, especially during the winter months. Which more than offsets the effect of dark morning travel. Most kids have extra curricular activities in the evenings, too, so they often travel home in the dark when standard time is in effect.
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### Author:  [@Earthworm\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthworm_Jim)
#### Post date: [April 8, 2005, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-daylight-savings-time-to-save-oil/298244/7 "2005-04-08T11:56:06Z")
Personally, I’d like to scrap standary time altogether, and go to DST all year round.
So I say it’s a step in the right direction.