First, in 1983 creation of a single huge time zone covering all of Alaska, except the far Aleutian Islands, put  most of Alaska on permanent Daylight Saving Time.  DST impacts on every Alaskan twice each year and its continued use needs to be justified.              
      Prior to 1983 the great state of Alaska spanned four time zones. The continental United States spans four time zones.  Use of four time zones allows the noon hour to coincide with the highest position of the Sun as it crosses Alaska. 

People are sensitive to the time of sunrise and sunset.  Some, such a children and older folks, more than others. This natural awareness and adjustment to sunrise and sunset is called Circadian-rhythm. When the State instantly changes the time of sunrise and sunset twice each year this impacts Circadian-rhythm. Circadian-rhythm disturbance is a recognized sleep disorder. "Jet Lag" is what you feel when your circadian-rhythm is upset.   Shouldn't there be a compelling reason for the State Legislature to subject the entire population to a recognized sleep disorder twice each year?

In 1983, the Bering, Yukon, and Alaska Time Zones were combined into a single time zone and our politicians forced all Alaskans (except for those in  the far western Aleutians) to share a time zone with the Capital in Juneau.  Prior to 1983, using four time zones allowed  "sun time" and "clock time" to be synchronized.  "Political Time" was created  in 1983.  "Political Time" has no regard for the position of the sun in the sky.  

 To create "Political time", clocks were permanently advanced in the former Alaska Time Zone. Advancing clocks is using Daylight Saving Time.  In 1983 all of Alaska West of the Yukon Territory (except the far Aleutian Islands) went on permanent Daylight Saving Time.       However,  forcing all of us into a common time zone did not satisfy a few special interests. Even though we have already changed time zones to  please these people, we are still required to change our clocks (and every other time keeping device we own) in order to change the time of sunrise and sunset twice yearly. 

Daylight Saving Time only "works" in the temperate regions where there is a modest change in day length during the year. On the equator the change of day length between winter and summer is only several minutes. This is why Hawaii opted out of Daylight Saving Time. In the extreme latitudes, where most of Alaska is located our day length is so variable that Daylight Saving Time is a pointless exercise.

Alaska has used Daylight Saving Time since 1967.  Given the improvements in business communication technology and the fact that in 2007 the period for using DST will increase, isn't it time to re-evaluate our need to continue to use Daylight Saving Time.

As mentioned, most of Alaska went on permanent Daylight Saving Time in 1983.  Currently from March to November most of Alaska is actually on double Daylight Saving Time. The situation is so bizarre that during periods when Daylight Saving Time is in use, the Sun is highest in the Sky at 2:00 PM in Anchorage and 3:00 PM in Nome.  An interesting discussion of  this subject is in Ned Rozell's Alaska Science Forum Article #1278 "Alaskans Double Their Daylight Savings".  This article was written before the period of DST was expanded.  Further information on Daylight Saving Time is available in a book by David Prerau "Seize the Daylight- The curious and contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time" published in 2005. ************************************************************************************

Second, there is no evidence that use of Daylight Saving Time is essential for sustaining Alaska's economy.

 Improved communications technology and expanding markets around the Pacfic Rim have eliminated the need for use of DST in Alaska.

                       

"Our economy depends on the lower 48 States and we can't possibly be more than one hour from Seattle or four hours from New York" is the chief argument of those who want Daylight Saving Time in Alaska to continue.   Did the 1983 time zone change in Alaska, and did our subsequent use of Daylight Saving Time, result in any measurable positive economic benefit to Alaska?   Prior to  1983 Anchorage and Fairbanks were 2 hours behind Seattle.  The Trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline was built when when Central Alaska was 2 hours behind Seattle.  Did our economy improve significantly, or at all,  because we moved to within one hour of Seattle?  Do the citizens of Hawaii, Arizona, Puerto Rico, and the US Virgin Islands suffer economically? These states and territories of the United States do not use DST.  In fact, many nations, including the Pacific rim nations of Japan and China, do not use Daylight Saving Time.  Also Daylight Saving Time, when used, is used at different times of the year times worldwide.               

Alaska finds itself increasingly participating in the  international business community.   The Air Cargo industry, which interfaces with the Pacific Far East where Daylight Saving Time is not used,  is now well established in Alaska. Ted Stevens International Airport is among the world's busiest air cargo terminals.     In fact, Alaska can exploit its time zone differences to provide services during what would be non business hours in other locations.  For purposes of business and finance Alaska sits at the "crossroads of the world" .  During normal business hours of  9:00 AM to 5:00 PM in Alaska  a person in the Alaska Time Zone can contact an area extending from New York City to Beijing China during business hours at those locations.    This can be done only without using Daylight Saving Time.  When you use Daylight Saving Time you advance an hour away from the Pacific Far East.  Without using Daylight Saving Time Alaska has a three hour window from 9:00am to 12:00 noon in Alaska  to reach New York during New York business hours. The window to Seattle is 9:00am to 3:00pm.  Without Daylight Saving Time you can also reach the Pacific Far East including Tokyo, Shanghais, Beijing or Hong Kong  during normal business hours (the next day) by calling from Anchorage between 4:00PM and 5:00PM.  For more information on time zone conversions please see the excellent World Time website.

     The "it benefits commerce" rationale for keeping Daylight Saving Time is in fact a canard used by a few  people who want every Alaskan to support their lifestyle.  Is any business person in Alaska so incompetent that he or she requires every Alaskan to support them by changing every time keeping device in the state twice each year.  Business hours cannot be the same everywhere unless we all move into the same time zone.  Businesses engaged in multinational operations often use Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which allows a common time for operations.   Maybe in the past, when business and financial communications were limited to the rotary dial office telephone and the western union telegram, being close to Seattle time or New York time was helpful.   However, now we have e-mail,  faxes, pagers, voice mail, internet contact, and cell phones which allow you to reach any person or business location at any time of the day.  ************************************************************************************
 

Third, we live in the "Land of the Midnight Sun"

Time Zones were established to allow position of the Sun to align with the time of day.

                         

      In any year Alaska rapidly gains and looses natural daylight which makes the use of DST pointless.  According to the US Naval Observatory, these are the time of Sunrise and Sunset on Saturday March 8, 2008 (the day before return of DST): Sunrise: 7:36AM, Sunset:  6:45PM  for a total of 11 Hours and 9 Minutes of Daylight (there is actually a little more daylight if you count the twilight periods before official sunrise and after official sunset).   The next day we will have gained an additional 6 minutes of actual daylight. At this rate, we are gaining an actual hour of daylight every 10 days.  Changing the time of sunrise and sunset by fiddling with our clocks at 2:00 A.M. on March 9th will have no effect on the actual amount of daylight on March 9th.  The natural gain of daylight will continue, as it does each year, until June 21st.  On June 21st Anchorage will experience over 19 hours of daylight with not a second of daylight added by use of Daylight Saving Time.

However, our Legislature can't leave this natural process alone.  The next day, March 9th  DST returns and the time of sunrise and sunset is instantly an hour different than it was on Saturday.  On Sunday those who forget to "spring forward" might be an hour late for church, miss an airplane flight, or be late for any other function if they showed up on Sunday using the previous day's time.  On Monday 10 March, morning darkness will return for commuting and starting work early in the morning.

This clock changing is seen as "progress" to some. To please a select few, every Alaskan has to go through this clock changing exercise twice each year.  As mentioned earlier, our biological clocks are influenced by the Circadian-rhythm  which controls our cycles of sleep, hunger and other life patterns which are twice yearly assaulted by state sponsored jet lag.   Overall public safety and job performance is impacted by sleep depravation.  School age children are especially impacted when they find themselves in school, by their biological clocks, an hour earlier on the Monday following the onset of Daylight Saving Time.  With regard to public and workplace safety, delaying sunset also delays sunrise the next morning.   What benefit you may gain by more light in the evening may be lost in the extended darkness of the next morning. 

Recent summers have seen several days of record breaking high temperatures in Alaska.  The heat of the day lasted long into the evening partly because Daylight Saving Time has caused the sun to be at its  highest in the mid afternoon.   In Anchorage, when you arrived home from work at 5:00 PM Alaska Daylight Saving Time you were arriving at 3:00 PM "sun time" and the heat of the day was just beginning to subside. 

Some contend that Daylight Saving Time provides extended daylight for recreation in the evening hours.  This may be true in the lower 48 where day length is about the same year round.  That certainly shouldn't be a concern in the "land of the midnight sun".  One of the greatest natural resources we have are our long summer days that nature provides, and in this case,  nature does not need the assistance of the Alaska State Legislature.   As has been point out, at the time of year when we began Daylight Saving Time, we are gaining approximately 6 minutes of actual/real daylight each day.  If you want an extra hour of daylight in South-central Alaska in April, wait 10 days.  **************************************************************

Forth, there are no energy savings for Alaskans by use of DST.

Temperature and length of day impact on energy use in Alaska. Use of Daylight Saving Time simply cannot make it warmer or give you a longer day.

                           
               
If the sun is shining you won't need to turn on the lights and you save energy.  Saving energy has been the primary reason for adopting Daylight Saving Time and is the reason the Federal Government allows the individual States to use DST. Time zones may have been adopted for the benefit of commerce, but Daylight Saving time was enacted to save energy.  Againd, Daylight Saving Time was adopted to save energy,  not to benefit commerce, not to insure that Alaska is no more than one hour from Seattle, and not to allow you to play sports late in the evening.  In 2008 the University of California conducted a careful analysis of the situation in Indiana when DST was forced upon that portion of the State that had previously opted out of DST. The study (click here to view draft paper-PDF file), showed how energy costs increased in the area impacted by the change.
I contacted ENSTAR Natural Gas Company, Matanuska Electric Association, and  the Regulatory Commission of Alaska, asking if use of Daylight Saving Time had any impact on energy consumption.  None of these agencies has any historical data relating to energy saving and the use of Daylight Saving Time.  The consensus was that because of our rapidly changing length of day, Daylight Saving Time can have little impact on energy consumption.  Temperature and extended periods of darkness impact energy usage - fiddling with the clock does not.  Many lights and devices are activated by photo-electric cells that have nothing to do with the time of day. These lights and devices operate based on ambient light. Changing the clock saves no energy with photo-electric devices.
Has any government agency or business in Alaska praised the use of Daylight Saving Time for saving energy?  In his book about the history of Daylight Saving Time, David Prerau writes about a taunt that was used by early critics of Daylight Saving Time.  Critics suggested that to save energy the government declare  that all thermometers be changed to show water freezing at 45 degrees instead of 32 degrees.  This would save coal because people could set the thermostat at 70 degrees and would certainly not miss 13 degrees.  Maybe we could lure the tourists by declaring a 40 degree increase in temperature on the first Sunday in April. ****************************************************************

Fifth, DST is a very invasive law and it should not be imposed on Alaskans without a clear and present need.

                                                                    
 Alaska is not the only place where Daylight Saving Time causes problems for its Citizens.  This web site has been linked to a web site in Australia http://www.lightofday.primetap.com/Index.html where the use of Daylight Saving Time is being contested.  Many of the same issues that cause contention in Alaska cause similar contention in Australia, Mexico and other locations.  Daylight Saving Time is not the great benefactor that some would like you to believe and its continued use needs to be justified. Alaska is one of the few states that lists privacy as a right in the state constitution.  Daylight Saving Time has to be one of the most invasive laws ever created.  To be impacted by most law a citizen needs to do something like earn money, (tax laws)  become ill (quarantine laws), drive a car (traffic laws). But with Daylight Saving Time, you only have to be a resident of  Alaska.  Daylight Saving Time is an unnecessary intrusion into our lives.  As a matter of privacy don't we have the right to left alone unless the state can show a clear and present need to force us to use Daylight Saving Time. 

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