The United States has brought forward its change to daylight saving time three weeks earlier than usual in a bid to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
At 7am yesterday (2am EST) clocks moved forward by an hour, shifting an hour of daylight from morning to evening. This summer time will last until November 4th, a week later than in previous years.
The additional four weeks each year of shifting an hour of daylight from morning to evening is expected to cut fuel consumption, as demand falls for electricity during early evening peak hours, according to experts.
Some in law enforcement think evening crime rates could fall, but farmers will lose a precious hour of early light, and airlines complained the change would throw their international schedules further out of sync with Europe, costing the industry millions.
The energy savings would translate into a 10.8 million-metric-ton reduction in carbon emissions over the next 13 years, it is claimed, citing an analysis by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
But that amount pales in comparison to the 5.9 billion metric tons the United States emitted during 2004, according to the US Department of Energy.