Daylight "Savings" Fracas.

I really want to point fingers today.... so I am picking what I thought was an easy target, the change to the longer Daylight Savings time.

First and foremost, I blame Gorge W. Bush and his Congress for enacting the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Section 110 of which reads in part as follows:

(a) Amendment- Section 3(a) of the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. 260a(a)) is amended--

(1) by striking `first Sunday of April' and inserting `second Sunday of March'; and

(2) by striking `last Sunday of October' and inserting `first Sunday of November'.

(b) Effective Date- Subsection (a) shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act or March 1, 2007, whichever is later.

But then it gets trickier. Who can I blame in Canada? I want to blame Stephen Harper and his Parliament, but nOOOoooo. According to this Info Sheet provided by the Library of Parliament, in Canada it is up to the Provinces and Territories to set their time (which makes sense since Saskatchewan does not participate, nor do some regions in BC or Quebec).

"Great!" I thought, "Another reason to point fingers at Gordon Campbell."

But I was wrong again. Apparently, in BC, it's the Attourney General who gets to make that call,

"The Attorney General is responsible for the Interpretation Act, which includes reference to time and is the authority under which Daylight Saving Time is prescribed in the province."

or at least that's what it says in this press release from last March. So who was the Attourney General last March? Same as now, Wally Oppal.

So, thank you Mr. Oppal. Thank you for bowing to useless pressure and promoting a useless measure which should have been abandoned long, long ago.

There is no conclusive proof that the change will in fact save much energy. The report that formed the basis for the Energy Policy Act of 2005 is a 2001 Staff Report from the California Energy Commission. Interestingly, the report suggests savings from Double DST -- in other words, move forward an hour in March 2007, then don't shift back, but move forward again in March 2008, then shift back in November 2008.... oh I am glad they didn't choose that boneheaded plan.