By Staff
NILES – Clocks should be changed one hour ahead Sunday at 2 a.m. for daylight saving time.
Much of the U.S. will spring forward three weeks earlier this year instead of the traditional first Sunday in April as a result of a federal energy bill passed in 2005. Clocks will fall back one hour Nov. 4 instead of Oct. 28, providing an extra four weeks of daylight saving time.
U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., of St. Joseph, said the extra four weeks of daylight saving time will save energy. Upton co-sponsored the bill with Massachusetts Democrat Rep. Ed Markey.
According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy the cumulative benefit of the four-week extension through 2020 will be a savings of about $4.4 billion and will result in 10.8 million metric tons less carbon released into the atmosphere.
Upton also said the extended daylight saving period will also make it safer for children heading to and from school, and trick-or-treating on Halloween.
The earlier daylight saving time will not change the bus schedules for students in Niles Community Schools or Brandywine Community Schools.
In addition, more daylight could also reduce the risk of traffic accidents because people will be driving less at or around dusk, Upton said.
And, he added the change could mean less crime.
"Crime rates will go down. Why? Because most crime occurs at night and extending that extra hour will actually reduce crime rates too," he said.