The Los Angeles Times has an interesting story suggesting that Daylight Saving Time may not be all that useful in saving energy. The accompanying video, shown below, says that there are some conflicting studies about whether Daylight Saving saves energy or whether it actually costs us energy. In either case, the difference is less than 1%. If we save energy, the cost benefit is probably around $4 a year, per person. Meanwhile, it’s undeniable that Spring Forward takes a toll on us; in the week following the switch, work productivity drops while car accidents and suicide rates go up.

I don’t have a preference as to whether the United States switches to Standard or Saving Time, but the change should be permanent. The biannual disruption to our lives is not worth a negligible energy savings—if any energy is saved at all.