Why is Daylight Saving Time early?

Back in August of 2005, President Bush signed a bill into law called the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The basic purpose of this statute is to combat energy problems in various ways, and one of the provisions of the thing is that Daylight Saving Time has been extended by approximately four weeks. So as of this year, instead of starting on the First Sunday of April and ending on the last Sunday of October, it will start on the second Sunday of March and end on the first Sunday of November, and some scientists or something are going to study energy consumption in the coming years and see if it makes any difference.

We've been doing it the old way for about twenty years, and Congress does reserve the right to change it back to the old way if this turns out to be just one big waste of time. So do be prepared for another massive time policy change in the unforeseen future. In the meantime, I'm not sure what difference four more weeks of Daylight Saving Time is going to make for the average person living on the planet. I currently wake up after the sun rises and see it set every day, like before 5:30. I guess this means more sunlight for people like me. Those who get up super early have to do so in the dark now, and I feel bad for them. Overall, the "fall backwards" seems to be more fun than the "spring forwards," but I guess it depends on the person doing the movement.

You'll notice I've been saying "Daylight Saving Time" instead of "Daylight Savings Time." That's because the "Saving" is not supposed to be plural. The "Time" is the noun, and the "Daylight Saving" is the adjective. There should probably be a bunch of hyphens in there, but there isn't, so it's up to us to remember. It's probably too late, because history has shown that when large groups of people mangle or misuse a word or phrase, it tends to stay mangled or misused. I wonder if President Bush gives a shit about that.

Cheers,
Diego