Daylight Savings Time Getting Longer by Congressional Fiat

Daylight Savings Time is one of those strange American traditions started back during World War II... well, actually, it appears to have first been around in Europe as a way to conserve materials during wars. But only the USA really keeps it up these days It is enacted differently around the country, which I learned to my chagrin when I had to put together a program to help schedule telephone nurse interviews with people in all 50 states. Some states follow it, some don't, and some do it their own way by schedule or by amount.

Well, it appears that Congress is not satisfied to leave well enough alone. There is a new bill in the Senate (a different one was already passed in the House) to extend DST by several weeks - starting earlier and ending later. The reason given? Energy savings.

I guess it is good to take steps to reduce our need for energy. But to me, DST seems like something that just makes life more complicated, with very little to show for it.