Spring is just around the corner, which means longer days and shorter nights. Or is it more money in the bank and smaller electricity bills? Daylight-saving time is a system established to reduce electricity usage by extending daylight hours (clocks are set ahead one hour).In the past, daylight-saving time began in April and ended in October. However, an energy bill signed by President George W. Bush on Aug. 8, 2005, extended daylight-saving time as part of a long-term solution to the nation’s energy problems. The new law extended daylight-saving time by four weeks – beginning three weeks earlier and ending one week later.Also under the new laws, the entire state of Indiana now observes daylight-saving time. Prior to the new laws, only certain areas of the state observed the time changes.In the United States, Hawaii and most of Arizona do not follow daylight-saving time. And the U.S. territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and American Samoa also do not observe daylight-saving time.About 70 countries around the world observe daylight-saving time with the exception of China and Japan.But for those living right here in Falcon, four people gave their input about whether they like the change. Here’s what they had to say.
Jeff Scott
FalconYeah I like that it comes earlier in the year. It works out for my schedule. |  |
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 | Evette Hahn
FalconI think it is good. I’m all about more daylight. I hate getting off of work when it is dark at 5:30 p.m. and then feel like you should be in bed by 6 p.m. |
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Jenny Good
Colorado SpringsI guess I really haven’t noticed a difference. |  |
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 | Rosa Hermosillo
EllicottI think it’s better because you get longer days. The only bad part is you have to get up earlier. |
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The history of daylight-saving time1784 – Benjamin Franklin is thought to have come up with the idea for daylight-saving time. In a whimsical letter to a French journal, he said that Parisians could save thousands of francs a years by waking up earlier during the summer because it would prevent them from having to buy so many candles to light the evening hours.
1918 – The U.S. first adopted daylight-saving time, in the same act that created standard time zones, in an effort to save energy during World War I. It didn’t prove popular, and, as a result, it was repealed the following year.
1942 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted “war-time,” a year-round daylight-saving time to save energy during World War II. After the year-round shift ended in 1945, many states adopted their own summer time changes.
1966 – Congress established a national pattern for summer changes with the Uniform Time Act. The act came in response from the transportation industry, which demanded consistency across time zones. The U.S. Department of Transportation now oversees time changes in the United States.
1973 – An oil embargo by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries led Congress to enact a test period of year-round daylight-saving time in 1974 and 1975. The test period was controversial; it ended after complaints that the dark winter mornings endangered children traveling to school. The U.S. returned to summer daylight-saving time in 1975.
1986 – The federal law was amended to start daylight-saving time on the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight-saving time was never changed and remained the last Sunday in October through 2006.
2005 – On Aug. 8, President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005 into law. Part of the act extended daylight-saving time starting in 2007, from the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November.
2007 – Daylight-saving time begins Sunday, March 11 and ends Sunday, Nov. 4.
Sources: CNN.com and CNN Library
