Quote:
Originally Posted by Shimpy
I agree 100%. Tell the government to leave the clocks alone and let nature regulate how much daylight we have.
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I believe there is a bill before the FL legislature at this time to eliminate time changes. Here is some additional information since there is NO scientific data supporting changes one way or another. This was the concept of a person from New Zealand who wanted extra daylight to hunt butterflies.
Retailers, sporting goods makers, and other businesses benefit from extra afternoon sunlight, as it induces customers to shop and to participate in outdoor afternoon sports.[90] In 1984, Fortune magazine estimated that a seven-week extension of DST would yield an additional $30 million for 7-Eleven stores, and the National Golf Foundation estimated the extension would increase golf industry revenues $200 million to $300 million.[91] A 1999 study estimated that DST increases the revenue of the European Union's leisure sector by about 3%.[7]
Conversely, DST can adversely affect farmers,[75] parents of young children,[75] and others whose hours are set by the sun and they have traditionally opposed the practice,[4] although some farmers are neutral.[92] One reason why farmers oppose DST is that grain is best harvested after dew evaporates, so when field hands arrive and leave earlier in summer their labor is less valuable.[11] Dairy farmers are another group who complain of the change. Their cows are sensitive to the timing of milking, so delivering milk earlier disrupts their systems.[76][93] Today some farmers' groups are in favor of DST.[94]
DST also hurts prime-time television broadcast ratings,[5][75] drive-ins and other theaters.[95]
Changing clocks and DST rules has a direct economic cost, entailing extra work to support remote meetings, computer applications and the like. For example, a 2007 North American rule change cost an estimated $500 million to $1 billion,[96] and Utah State University economist William F. Shughart II has estimated the lost opportunity cost at around $1.7 billion USD.[75] Although it has been argued that clock shifts correlate with decreased economic efficiency, and that in 2000 the daylight-saving effect implied an estimated one-day loss of $31 billion on US stock exchanges,[97] the estimated numbers depend on the methodology[98] and the results have been disputed.[99]