Daylight Savings Time 2012: Should The U.S. End DST? [POLL]

Except for those lucky people living in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, everyone in the U.S. will lose an hour of sleep for half the year starting March 11 thanks to Daylight Savings Time 2012, when clocks will need to be turned forward one hour. Beginning Sunday at 2:00 a.m., the hour of daylight saved will be withdrawn until Nov. 4, when the clocks will be turned back again.

Daylight Savings Time 2012 means longer days and a few extra hours of sunlight. It also means a lot of sleepy, grumpy people for the first few weeks as they adjust to their new schedule.

Since it was first introduced during World War I and then made an official policy with the Uniform Time Act of 1966, Daylight Savings Time has been justified as an energy-conservation measure.

Studies dating as far back as 1976, however, have concluded that DST produces no energy savings, and may in fact contribute to energy costs. Many who have read these studies conclude that DST should be abolished, especially considering the fact that only 75 countries in the world, the U.S. included, observe any form of DST.

On the other hand, one of the main issues most people have with Daylight Savings Time is not that it exists, but that it doesn't operate year-round, or uniformally. In 1973, DST was observed all year, not just for the spring and summer, and the current system of beginning on the first Sunday in April and ending on the last Sunday of October was only standardized in 1986. States like Arizona have refused to follow DST due to heat and energy concerns.

The debate over Daylight Savings Time 2012, then, can become one of extremes, with some pushing for the practice to continue year-round and others frustrated that it exists at all. What does tie the two camps together is the feeling that the curretn system is flawed. There is an online petition to either end or alter daylight savings on StandardTime.com, while a quick scan through Facebook shows groups like I Miss Daylight Savings Already side-by-side withI Hate Daylight Savings Time.

What do you think? Does the practice of Daylight Savings Time need to stop? Does it need to continue year-round? Or is Daylight Savings Time just fine the way it is? Scroll to our poll to cast your vote.

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