The Indy Star has an AP story on DST entitled Yet more debate added to daylight-saving time. In it, we get a bit of editorial comment from Mike Smith, the AP writer:
But putting off the effective date much beyond that would delay the boost in economic commerce Indiana is sure to reap by joining 47 other states and much of the world in observing daylight-saving time.
With no apparent evidence, Mr. Smith can state unequivocally that Indiana is “sure to reap” a boost in economic commerce.
No thought is given to the trouble and expense that Indiana businesses will have to undergo to switch their business systems from Hoosier Standard Time to Eastern Daylight Time. No thought is given despite the fact that it is that very trouble and expense which allegedly keeps foreign business out of Indiana under the current system. And, no thought is given despite the fact that, according to the article, the switch apparently has to take place after Memorial Day to avoid causing trouble for Indy 500 related business.
The article does mention critics who point out that Candidate Daniels stressed Central Time as the way to go. Something that Governor Daniels seems to have forgotten. This points out a weakness in the recent reporting of a poll finding that, “56 percent of Hoosiers favor turning Indiana’s clocks ahead one hour each spring and back in the fall, with 37 percent opposed and 7 percent unsure.” These numbers are meaningless if we do not know the time zone preference. We really have three choices here: Eastern Daylight Time, Central Daylight Time, and Hoosier Standard Time. A meaningful poll would tell us how Hoosiers fall in those three categories.
The poll article also says this about DST:
“Many legislators have told me they see a shift in favor of daylight-saving time, that they can tell a difference,” he said. “More people have heard the economic argument.”
The poll found that while a majority of urban and suburban residents support the time change, rural Hoosiers oppose it.
Hoosiers have heard the economic argument. But, I wager they haven’t seen any actual evidence to support that argument. Instead, they get articles like the one by the AP’s Mike Smith which simply accepts the “economic boost” as some sort of revealed truth and print it as gospel, rather than actually requiring any evidence that the assertions being made are true.
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