By Staff
WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) today reminded folks in southwest Michigan to set their clocks back this weekend in observance of daylight saving time.
Upton's bipartisan amendment, co-sponsored by Ed Markey (D-MA), extended daylight saving by four weeks, starting the second Sunday of March and lasting through the first Sunday of November. This is the first year the extension was observed.
"As we fall back this weekend and enjoy an extra hour of sleep, we are reminded of the many benefits of extending daylight saving – from energy conservation, fewer traffic accidents to keeping kids safer on Halloween," said Upton.
"With oil approaching $100 a barrel and gas prices escalating, every bit of conservation helps. Halloween is the most dangerous night of the year for our kids, and the extra hour of daylight this week helped keep our kids safer as they went door-to-door in neighborhoods throughout the nation. Extending daylight saving is one small piece of the puzzle to address skyrocketing energy costs."
Extending daylight in the 1970s saved the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil a day, or one percent of the nation's energy consumption. The U.S. Department of Energy is currently studying the impact of the daylight saving extension.
The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a non-profit group, estimates that the cumulative benefit of the four-week extension through 2020 will be a saving of approximately $4.4 billion and 10.8 million metric tons LESS carbon released into the atmosphere.
The daylight saving extension is supported by studies which show that early daylight saving time and longer days decrease the number of fatal traffic accidents, reduce crime rates, and provide relief for individuals suffering from "night blindness."