Time tickin’ in my head
Patterico notes that congress is looking to expand daylight savings time by four weeks. I’m with Patterico, make it year round.
Side note: That really requires and act of Congress? By what authority does congress regulate time? I guess because commerce must occur in time or some such other silliness.
July 22nd, 2005 at 12:00 pm
AFAIK, its left to the states to some degree. I know that Arizona doesn’t have daylight savings time at all and in Indiana each county decides.
July 22nd, 2005 at 3:28 pm
The Federal government took over time thanks to the railroads. Up to the late 19th century, most American towns set their own local time. Ie., it could be 10 o’clock in Oak Valley and 10:05 in Oak Glen just down the road, based on how the town read the local noon (sun directly overhead). States also began to experiment with daylight savings time.
When railroads came along, this became a nightmare of scheduling, since frequently it looked like trains arrived at a city down the line before it left your station. Planning to change trains was very hard.
The Federal government stepped in to “help” everyone.