Let's Ditch Daylight Savings Time

[urbanlibertarian]

FTU has an article about how springing forward hurts productivity:

http://jacksonville.com/business/2013-03-08/story/springing-forward-clock-change-challenges-work-productivity

I say we get get rid of DST.

[Adam W]

FTU has an article about how springing forward hurts productivity:

http://jacksonville.com/business/2013-03-08/story/springing-forward-clock-change-challenges-work-productivity

I say we get get rid of DST.

I prefer it. The benefits of daylight savings time are a lot more marked when you live a lot further north. As it is, with BST, the sun starts coming up at 4.30 and it gets dark at 9.30 or so at night. If we didn't have daylight savings time, it would start getting light an hour earlier. That's insane.

The benefit for us of having longer days is pretty much lost by the peak of summer, as we'd still have long days anyway without the benefit of daylight saving time (I'd say a sunset after 8 pm is pretty decent). Of course, one of the things I love about our summers is having really, really long days.

Our winters, by contrast, are depressing as hell.

[spuwho]

I would surmise that DST has more impact in the higher latitudes of the US than in the lower ones.

Since I moved to Florida, I have noticed that the DST change is not as dramatic when it comes to access to daylight.

The northeast and rust belt probably need DST more than the south does due to geography. 

I have to admit, coming out of a mall in central Michigan years ago at 9:45PM and having the sun still setting was odd.

[Adam W]

I would surmise that DST has more impact in the higher latitudes of the US than in the lower ones.

Since I moved to Florida, I have noticed that the DST change is not as dramatic when it comes to access to daylight.

The northeast and rust belt probably need DST more than the south does due to geography. 

I have to admit, coming out of a mall in central Michigan years ago at 9:45PM and having the sun still setting was odd.

Growing up in Florida, when my mom would tell me about how in Ireland it would stay light until around 10 at night in the summer, I thought she was telling tall tales. It just didn't seem remotely possible to me.

[Ocklawaha]

It's more about geographic light, then it is about time. In Oregon where the sun rises at 8 am and sets at 4 pm it is a life saver to thousands of students standing alongside a road waiting for the school bus. Another fact, it won't go away until AFTER Halloween because the candy lobby won't let that happen.

[Charles Hunter]

Senator Soto (Dem - Dist. 14 - near Orlando) has introduced SB 734 into the Florida Senate, requiring Florida to observe Daylight Saving Time all year.  It would become effective January 1, 2014.  There is no companion bill in the Florida House (not a good sign).  It has been assigned to 4 committees.
Link: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0734

While I like the idea of not switching clocks back and forth, I don't really like the idea of Florida going it alone.  For a little more than 4 months - from the 1st Sunday in November to the 2nd Sunday in March - Florida would be one hour ahead of everyone else.  The eastern time zone would be an hour ahead of the entire eastern seaboard of the US (but we would be the same as Nova Scotia!).  The western part of the Panhandle would be on New York time.  I think this would lead to confusion in setting meetings, possibly with travel arrangements, and with TV schedules - prime time programs would start at 7:00 PM instead of 8:00, for example.

[Adam W]

Senator Soto has introduced SB 734 into the Florida Senate, requiring Florida to observe Daylight Saving Time all year.  It would become effective January 1, 2014.  There is no companion bill in the Florida House (not a good sign).  It has been assigned to 4 committees.
Link: http://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2013/0734

While I like the idea of not switching clocks back and forth, I don't really like the idea of Florida going it alone.  For a little more than 4 months - from the 1st Sunday in November to the 2nd Sunday in March - Florida would be one hour ahead of everyone else.  The eastern time zone would be an hour ahead of the entire eastern seaboard of the US (but we would be the same as Nova Scotia!).  The western part of the Panhandle would be on New York time.  I think this would lead to confusion in setting meetings, possibly with travel arrangements, and with TV schedules - prime time programs would start at 7:00 PM instead of 8:00, for example.

That seems silly.

Is changing clocks really that big of a deal? You only have to do it twice a year, so I don't see why people object to it that much. I suppose if Florida changed to 365 days of EDT, everyone would learn to adjust. But really....

[carpnter]

I would surmise that DST has more impact in the higher latitudes of the US than in the lower ones.

Since I moved to Florida, I have noticed that the DST change is not as dramatic when it comes to access to daylight.

The northeast and rust belt probably need DST more than the south does due to geography. 

I have to admit, coming out of a mall in central Michigan years ago at 9:45PM and having the sun still setting was odd.

Having the sun setting at 9:45pm is better than having it coming in your window at 4:00am

[Ocklawaha]

While I like the idea of not switching clocks back and forth, I don't really like the idea of Florida going it alone. 

Hawaii and Arizona don't observe it, Indiana didn't before 2005.  I also recall reading somewhere that a few cities don't officially observe it - probably located on a time zone boundary line, but I couldn't find any reference to them.  BTW, just so everyone knows, time zones are a creation of the AMERICAN RAILROAD SYSTEM. Imagine what it was like creating a schedule for our long distances and every damn town had it's own time! YIKES!

[fsquid]

they publish stories like this every year.  I'd rather they go back to the old way of last Sunday in March, last Sunday in October being the switch.

[David]

For insomniacs like me who lack a natural circadian rhythm the change is barely noticeable. BUT! I do enjoy correcting people from now until November when they say "Eastern Standard Time" or "EST"

Nope. It's Eastern Daylight Time, buddy!

[BrooklynSouth]

I'm sick of the federal government imposing socialist time zones on us. Only God knows the hour of Jesus' return, not George Soros and his pals at the Greenwich observatory. Reject "Obama Savings Time"!

[Ocklawaha]

BUT! I do enjoy correcting people from now until November when they say "Eastern Standard Time" or "EST"

Nope. It's Eastern Daylight Time, buddy!

I like to think of it at this moment as 1707 Zulu.

[If_I_Loved_you]

I'm sick of the federal government imposing socialist time zones on us. Only God knows the hour of Jesus' return, not George Soros and his pals at the Greenwich observatory. Reject "Obama Savings Time"!

"I'm sick of the federal government imposing socialist time zones on us. " You act as if this started with Obama?

[BrooklynSouth]

I'm sick of the federal government imposing socialist time zones on us. Only God knows the hour of Jesus' return, not George Soros and his pals at the Greenwich observatory. Reject "Obama Savings Time"!

"I'm sick of the federal government imposing socialist time zones on us. " You act as if this started with Obama?

So my pretend ignorant right-wing conspiracy-mongering was believable?