Congress shifts Earth's axis

[MisterMike]

Well, maybe not, but all kidding aside, I've never really seen them pass something to actually save us all money.

Saving on electricity is all good, but if they could just shift the orbit a little so the winters wouldn't be so darn cold up here.

WASHINGTON - If Congress passes an energy bill, Americans may see more daylight-saving time.

Lawmakers crafting energy legislation approved an amendment Wednesday to extend daylight-saving time by two months, having it start on the last Sunday in March and end on the last Sunday in November.

"Extending daylight-saving time makes sense, especially with skyrocketing energy costs," said Rep. Fred Upton (news, bio, voting record), R-Mich., who along with Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., co-sponsored the measure.

The amendment was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee that is putting together major parts of energy legislation likely to come up for a vote in the full House in the coming weeks.

"The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use," said Markey, who cited Transportation Department estimates that showed the two-month extension would save the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

The country uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day.

 

[ginshun]

So is the theory behind it saving us money that people will have to have the lights on in there house less? Honestly, if you were really that worried about it couldn't you just buy engergy saving bulbs or candles?

What about places that don't have daylight savings time?

 

[OUMoose]

I'm just curious. Do these people not have windows in their houses?

it's reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly simple. When it's dark, I turn lights on. When it's not, they're off. See how easy that is? I don't need my clock to tell me when to turn on and off the lights.

Also, having worked a brief stint in the power industry, most powerplants are either coal or natural gas, with some supplementary hydro/nuclear. "Saving the equivalent of 10,000 barrels a day" means precisely nuffin.

I know. They probably tacked on a raise for the delegates if this passes...

 

[ginshun]

I know. They probably tacked on a raise for the delegates if this passes...

No doubt, its gotta be nice to decide for yourself when you think you need a raise.

 

[Feisty Mouse]

I'm just curious. Do these people not have windows in their houses?

it's reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaly simple. When it's dark, I turn lights on. When it's not, they're off. See how easy that is? I don't need my clock to tell me when to turn on and off the lights.

I thought something like that, too.

 

[raedyn]

"The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use,"

This line blows my mind. Congress can't control how much daylight happens. Maybe they can control what time our clocks are supposed to say when the daylight happens.... But they can't affect how many hours the sun is up! What an ill-concieved comment. Everytime you start talking about Daylight Savings, otherwise coherent people have their brains turn to mush.

 

[Phoenix44]

Wait, I don't get it...very few people hate the current Congress as much as I do, but why is this a bad idea?

No, we don't need a clock to tell us when to turn the lights on, but most of us need a clock to tell us when to go to work, when to come home from work, when the kids have to be in school, and therefore, when to start getting the kids ready for bed. If it's still light out when it's 7 PM, I don't have to use electricity to light the house while we eat dinner or read the newspaper. On the other hand, if it's dark when it's 7 PM, I'm using the electricity an extra hour.

Even with efficient appliances and bulbs, why is this a dumb idea?

 

[OUMoose]

Even with efficient appliances and bulbs, why is this a dumb idea?

Because as was pointed out earlier, not everyone is on daylight savings time. Also (if my calculator is working), a .0005% reduction in daily oil usage seems almost negligible.

Oh, and if anyone was/is curious (as I was), here's a link as to the explanation of Daylight Savings time from its inception.

 

[Phoenix44]

a .0005% reduction in daily oil usage seems almost negligible.

I'm not sure how you came up with that figure, but let's look at it this way: Suppose I use my electric lights for 1 hour in the morning and 5 hours at night (6 PM to 11 PM) for a 31 day month. That's 186 hrs. But if it's 7 PM when it gets dark (no matter how arbitrary the clock time is), then it's 155 hours. That cuts the cost of my lighting bill by 17% for each month affected.

That's significant.

 

[OUMoose]

I'm not sure how you came up with that figure, but let's look at it this way:

From the original post:

"The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use," said Markey, who cited Transportation Department estimates that showed the two-month extension would save the equivalent of 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

The country uses about 20 million barrels of oil a day.

Unless my calculator is broken (or my algebra is off which is a definitely possibility), 10,000/20,000,000 = .0005%

Suppose I use my electric lights for 1 hour in the morning and 5 hours at night (6 PM to 11 PM) for a 31 day month. That's 186 hrs. But if it's 7 PM when it gets dark (no matter how arbitrary the clock time is), then it's 155 hours. That cuts the cost of my lighting bill by 17% for each month affected.

That's significant.

That's a fair assessment, but lets go a little further. In 2002, On average, a standard household will use 906 kWh a month (DoE quick facts). That rounds out to about $78.84 a month per the same page. Using your 17% reduction in cost for a 2 month spawn out of the year, that would save you approximately $13.40 a month, or $26.80 a year. Significant? Perhaps, but I'm curious how much of that 26.80 you lost in taxes paying these legislators to attempt to put through silly laws like this. All of it and then some? More than likely...

 

[Phoenix44]

We have the highest energy costs in the country. With my electric bill $125/month, that comes to $21.25/month. With about 5000 households in my town, that's $106,250/month for this community of approximately 6 square miles. THAT is not negligible for this community.

I'm not concerned with the cost of the legislators voting on this proposal. I'm a lot more concerned with the fact that gasoline prices doubled in the past 4 years, and are now increasing at a penny/gallon per day.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Bush vetoed the bill, because he would hate the oil industry to lose that tiny fraction of a percent.

 

[psi_radar]

It's time to give congress a LOOONG vacation. We'll give them a call if something comes up. They've been writing laws for 200 years now. Enough already. And we wonder why they're sticking their noses into the Terry Schaivo case and steroids in baseball. The people are BORED because they've run out of ideas. Maybe they could look into why gas prices shoot up with the price of oil when that oil will take months to refine and get to the pumps. And funny how it always happens right before summer and people travel more.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if there are some pork line items in that bill.

 

[Blindside]

Don't put them out yet, they have to pass the budget. Not that I think they will accomplish that this year.

Lamont

 

[OUMoose]

We have the highest energy costs in the country. With my electric bill $125/month, that comes to $21.25/month. With about 5000 households in my town, that's $106,250/month for this community of approximately 6 square miles. THAT is not negligible for this community.

Very true, which is why I looked at the national average, as I'm guessing the average potatoe farmer in Idaho doesn't use nearly that much, but the time change would still affect him/her. (note: no offense meant to potatoe farmers on the board. )

I'm not concerned with the cost of the legislators voting on this proposal. I'm a lot more concerned with the fact that gasoline prices doubled in the past 4 years, and are now increasing at a penny/gallon per day.

However, I wouldn't be surprised if Bush vetoed the bill, because he would hate the oil industry to lose that tiny fraction of a percent.

*looks at his most recent fill-up recept, cursing under his breath* Yes, I definitely agree on the absurdity of gas prices...

 

[ginshun]

My girlfriend asked me to take her out to someplace expensive, so we drove to the gas station.

 

[Phoenix44]

My girlfriend asked me to take her out to someplace expensive, so we drove to the gas station.

:roflmao:You kill me.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

So.....who's going to pay for all the reprogramming required?
I mean, my computer, my microwave, my cable box, my vcrs...all automatically process DST.

I cut my energy use 75% by turning unused electronics off, not having a gazillion lights on, switching to low-wattage bulbs, insulating my windows and running the thermostat a couple of degrees below prefered and tossed on a sweater. I don't need congress to "help" me. Their help is why 25-35% of my utility bills are taxes and "user" fees.

 

[TonyM.]

Dear Lord! There really is no hope for us if Congress cannot find anything more important to do than worry about the clock. I guess Will Rogers was correct about the Senate.