One argument used in lengthening the duration of Daylight Saving Time has been that it will save energy. Early risers can get to work at home, on the farm, or at the office without switching on so many lights. Maybe the program will not work quite that way as this [article suggests](http://planetsave.com/blog/2009/03/05/daylight-savingsenergy-savings/).
> This sounded good to me, so I did not further study this claim. However, these folks did…
>
– A [statistical analysis by the California Energy Commission](http://energy.ca.gov/2007publications/CEC-200-2007-004/CEC-200-2007-004.PDF) showed little or no energy savings.
– Scientists from the University of California-Santa Barbara [studied the state of Indiana’s energy consumption during Daylight Saving Time](http://www2.bren.ucsb.edu/~kotchen/links/DSTpaper.pdf) and noted an increase in usage.
– And a [UC-Berkeley study](http://repositories.cdlib.org/ucei/csem/CSEMWP-163/) was also at odds with the energy-savings claim.
> **What can we conclude from these studies?**
> Energy savings will rarely come from a provision in a law any President passes (especially former prez G.W. Bush). It is up to us to conserve energy in our homes, at our offices and schools. We can no longer take electricity for granted. It’s time to start scolding one another again for leaving lights on in an empty room. Our grandparents used to-I guess energy frugality skips a generation.
Energy efficiency cannot do its job without help from users as the article says. Habits change slowly. Without consciousness of the opportunity to save electricity and the fuel used to generate it, people will continue to switch on the lights as they hop out of bed. Worse, the tacit assumption that daylight saving will do the job for them (shifting the burden), many may relax other “green” activities.