Political Time

Less than one hundred years ago, the US Congress passed the Standard Time Act in 1918, which established a single, standard system of timekeeping for the entire US and designated its five time zones by reference to the Greenwich meridian. 'An Act to preserve daylight and provide standard time for the United States' was enacted on March 19, 1918. It both established standard time zones and set summer Daylight Saving Time to begin on March 31, 1918. Daylight Saving Time was observed for seven months in 1918 and 1919.

After the War ended, the law proved so unpopular that it was repealed the next year with a Congressional override of President Wilson's veto. Daylight Saving Time became a local option, and was continued in some states and in some cities.

After many changes to the clocks, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 extended Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. Beginning in 2007, Congress retained the right to revert to the 1986 DST law  should "the change prove unpopular or if energy savings are not significant". Going from 2007 forward, Daylight Saving Time in the U.S. begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March and ends at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of November. There are now seven time zones for the United States, EST (Eastern), CST (Central), MST (Mountain), PST (Pacific), AKST (Alaska), and HAST (Hawaii).


The earth is about 4.5 billion years old and finally, nine years ago, US politicians finally agreed to what time it is (unless it proves unpopular). Luckily they have not seen fit to change the calendar and we can still celebrate the New Year on January 1.

These same politicians tell us they can predict the future about many things, including global warming, but they cannot even agree on what time it is or if "energy savings are not significant".