[sjfan]

Originally Posted by Tarana

The whole point of DST was to save energy costs.

It was, but it turns out that (at least in modern homes) it actually increases energy costs slightly:

In the US, the state of Indiana held out on adopting DST until 2006. That allowed researchers to conduct a three-year study on Indiana residents, comparing their energy costs both before and after switching to DST. As it turns out, the switch was actually costing state residents a whole lot.

University of California Santa Barbara researcher Matthew Kotchen told National Geographic, "Just in the state of Indiana, it turns out to be almost seven million dollars a year in increased residential electricity bills."

Those numbers may be different in more southern states, but overall any impact on energy consumption is pretty minimal.

Originally Posted by Tarana

Interestingly, it reduces the number of fatalities in pedestrian hits by cars and car crashes. So it can save your life!

DST _might_ do that, but switching clocks back and forth swamps that effect, Overall the switch to DST causes more (and fatal) accidents because of the impact of sleep-deprived drivers:

Researchers estimate that car crashes in the US caused by sleepy daylight-saving drivers likely cost 30 extra people their lives over the nine-year period from 2002-2011.

Messing with people's circadian rhythms also increases the risk of heart attacks, workplace injuries, and strokes over the next couple of days; it may also increase the suicide rate:

Each year, on the Monday after this springtime switch, hospitals report a 24% spike in heart attack visits around the country...DST also causes more reports of injuries at work, more strokes, and may lead to a temporary bump in suicides at this time of year, too.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dayligh...ry?id=53654632 also discusses the health risks associated with clock changes.