Daylight savings time: what, exactly, is the point?

It’s meant to reduce energy use but a recent study in Indiana, where the policy was instituted for the first time in 2006, has found that it led to a 1% increase in energy use.  The result was $9 million more in electricity costs for the whole state or $3.39 per household, and a commensurate increase in greenhouse gas emissions.  The authors of the study theorize that the effect is worse in a hoter climate, where air conditioners are run late into the evening as the sun continues to bore down.

They write:

Eliminating daylight time would thus accord with President-elect Barack Obama’s stated goals of conserving resources, saving money, promoting energy security and reducing climate change. At the very least, we should abandon the notion that we are saving energy while enjoying the extra hour of sunlight on hot summer evenings.