WASHINGTON, DC – This Sunday, Daylight Savings will spring forward for the last time during the month of April. Starting next year, an additional four weeks will be added to Daylight savings time to shorten the winter, lengthen the summer and save energy thanks to an amendment to the 2005 Energy Bill that was first introduced by Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA) and Representative Fred Upton (R-MI).

“The beauty of daylight saving time is that it just makes everyone feel sunnier,” said Rep. Ed Markey, a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the author of the 1986 legislation that added three weeks of daily saving time to the calendar.

Starting next year, daylight savings time will start the second Sunday of March and last through the first Sunday of November. The bill also calls for a study on the impact of daylight saving on energy consumption.

“In addition to the benefits of energy saving, less crime, fewer traffic fatalities, more recreation time and increased economic activity, day light saving just brings a smile to everybody’s faces,” said Rep. Markey.

The Upton-Markey amendment is supported by studies which show that early daylight saving time and longer days decrease the number of fatal traffic accidents, reduce crime rates, and provide relief for individuals suffering from “night blindness.” A broad coalition of groups including organizations like the Alliance to Save Energy, the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy, the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, the National Association of Convenience Stores and the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation Fighting Blindness, and an array of small businesses which support American pastimes, from barbecue to baseball to boating support the legislation to extend daylight saving.

For more information on Rep. Markey’s work on Energy issues, please visit http://markey.house.gov