 |
Daylight saving solar timeBen Franklin's Daylight saving timeWell, it's that time of year again, when our sleep patterns will be disrupted by government fiat. But this year, those of us who have lately been pleased, at last, to rise to sunlight shall be cast back into three more weeks of dark awakenings, due to the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which moved daylight saving time (starting this year) back from the first Sunday of April to the second Sunday of March, so as to save energy. We should all be glad of this measure, for it will surely succeed in its purpose, to save our Republic from the evil of excessive energy consumption. After all, energy saving was the rationale behind Benjamin Franklin's original proposal of the idea, right? ... Christopher M. Montalbano Franklin's idea was to have people rise at dawn. He would obviously consider the present arrangement of having people adjust their clocks forward by one hour and then back again just once each year a feeble attempt to accomplish his purpose. The time at which the sun rises changes every day. Therefore, we need to adjust our clocks every day. That would not be difficult in an age when everyone has a digital watch. The time changes could be programmed into our watches. We would also need to get rid of the time zones, which result in the inefficient use of daylight. If your watch is correctly synchronized with the sun at the center of the time zone in which you live, it must be half an hour out at each margin of the time zone. But that is not a difficult problem to overcome. You simply need to adjust your clock according to your longitude. This would be accomplished automatically by incorporating a GPS system in each digital watch. Then as you travelled eastward your watch would run slower. If you travelled east fast enough, you watch would actually go backwards. Conversely, as you travelled west, your watch would run fast. Not only would such arrangements result in the optimum use of daylight and result in the maximum saving in candles, etc., but it would avoid the unpleasantly abrupt changes in the clock that are necessitated by the present antiquated system of resetting the clock by increments of one hour. Of course there would be a transition period in which investments would be necessary in new watches, clocks and all devices incorporating a time-keeping mechanism: microwave ovens, clock-radios, etc., etc. Computer operating systems would need upgrading and the complex software managing air traffic systems and defense installations would need massive new investment. It would be very much like a re-run of the Year 2000 thing. There would be anxiety about aircraft falling from the sky due to software glitches. The U.S. Secretary of Transportation would have to announce that on "Transition Day" his grand daughter would be travelling by air from Los Angeles to visit with her grand parents in Washington, D.C. Entire computer system could crash. Pensions might not be paid. But on the plus side, there would be vast amounts to be earned by programmers, watchmakers, GPS manufacturers, etc. Newspapers would be able to fill their pages effortlessly with total rubbish about "The Transition" for months. There would be special tax breaks and depreciation allowances for business. It would give the entire economy a shot in the arm. Most important, it would allow Homeland Security to keep an exact tag on where you are at any time of day or night by the ping from your superdigital, GPS-synchronized watch. Yes, it can be only a matter of time before the US Imperial administration mandates the transition, to continuously variable solar time (CVST).
Canadian Spectator
|