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elleng

(130,126 posts)
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 06:49 PM Mar 2021

Spring forward forever? Lawmakers consider keeping daylight saving time year-round.

This Sunday, we turn clocks forward by an hour. Bipartisan legislation proposes we don’t fall back again.

After a long, dark winter, our noticeably sunnier evenings are about to turn even brighter.

At 2 a.m. Sunday, the clocks will “spring forward” one hour as we return to daylight saving time (DST). The time shift means we lose an hour of sleep, but in exchange we’ll enjoy more evening light for the next eight months — until we “fall back” to standard time again in early November.

But what if we advanced the clocks this weekend and never had to turn them back? The idea is gaining some traction after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators this week reintroduced a bill that would eliminate standard time and keep daylight saving time year-round.

The Sunshine Protection Act, proposed by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), along with four Republican and three Democratic senators, says we should ditch standard time since we only use it four months of the year, from November to March. “The call to end the antiquated practice of clock changing is gaining momentum throughout the nation,” Rubio said in a statement.'>>>

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2021/03/12/daylight-saving-time-spring-forward/?

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Spring forward forever? Lawmakers consider keeping daylight saving time year-round. (Original Post) elleng Mar 2021 OP
Sounds nice, except that in the north, like Minnesota, sunrise will be at 9:00 am question everything Mar 2021 #1
Good point. alwaysinasnit Mar 2021 #3
But by the same token... Salviati Mar 2021 #6
Same here. FoxNewsSucks Mar 2021 #7
I don't care which time it stays at, just as long as we stop having to switch back & forth. scarletwoman Mar 2021 #2
I agree with Rubio... bahboo Mar 2021 #4
... BigmanPigman Mar 2021 #10
I'd love it. I don't care how dark it is in the morning. Sunset at 4pm is depressing kysrsoze Mar 2021 #5
we tried that one year- '73? Blues Heron Mar 2021 #8
Agree mikewv Mar 2021 #11
exactly, if there's no shift, keep standard time Blues Heron Mar 2021 #12
Noon isn't 12pm except for a very few places sir pball Mar 2021 #13
At a certain point we have to deal with the day we're given Blues Heron Mar 2021 #15
The kids can go later. It is the high school kids who go early anyway. Demsrule86 Mar 2021 #17
The children of comfortable Americans don't go to bus stops misanthrope Mar 2021 #21
First thing L'il Marco has gotten right FoxNewsSucks Mar 2021 #9
I'd rather live with the extra hour than the lost hour forever soothsayer Mar 2021 #14
I would have preferred they just split the difference and settle on the half hour. Dagstead Bumwood Mar 2021 #16
That seems like the perfect compromise. 👍 nt Raine Mar 2021 #19
I'd rather Standard Tme be kept year round Raine Mar 2021 #18
Agree. nt Buckeye_Democrat Mar 2021 #20
I agree. Delmette2.0 Mar 2021 #24
I like the switching. After a week or so - who remembers what the fuss was all about? Blues Heron Mar 2021 #22
I don't care how they define time - just keep it the same year round! Retrograde Mar 2021 #23
Permanent DST is just changing your time zone. krispos42 Mar 2021 #25

question everything

(47,264 posts)
1. Sounds nice, except that in the north, like Minnesota, sunrise will be at 9:00 am
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 06:59 PM
Mar 2021

In December and January. I think that if we are getting rid of “spring forward” “fall back” we should have standard day yea around.

Salviati

(6,002 posts)
6. But by the same token...
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:08 PM
Mar 2021

... if we go to standard time year round, sunrise in the middle of the summer will be at 4am in Seattle. The days in winter up north are just too damn short, there's no getting around it, but I'd much rather have it light out later on in the day than early in the morning. Even if it means daylight doesn't start until almost 9, I'd much rather have it stay daylight until 5:30pm rather than 4:30 pm.

FoxNewsSucks

(10,375 posts)
7. Same here.
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:12 PM
Mar 2021

People would adjust, and it would be the same every year. I hate it when it is dark at 4:30. I don't know how people in the eastern parts of the time zone, like Illinois, can stand that.

scarletwoman

(31,893 posts)
2. I don't care which time it stays at, just as long as we stop having to switch back & forth.
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:04 PM
Mar 2021

Actually, my preference would be standard time - but I'll take what I can get. Just stop with the clock-changing!

kysrsoze

(6,010 posts)
5. I'd love it. I don't care how dark it is in the morning. Sunset at 4pm is depressing
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:06 PM
Mar 2021

I don't think it's any safer to have it lighter during morning commute and darker during evening commute. It's almost easier to ease into the day with a darker drive to work - i've done it for years.

This proposal is about the only thing I'll agree with Li'l Marco on.

Blues Heron

(5,898 posts)
8. we tried that one year- '73?
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:13 PM
Mar 2021

anyway people didn't like it cuz the mornings were so cold and dark for the kids going to school. Any business is free to set their own hours and they should do so. But DST in the winter is just nutty and pointless. The work day needs to somewhat track the morning light. That's why we get going earlier in the summer when the sunrise is earlier.

Blues Heron

(5,898 posts)
12. exactly, if there's no shift, keep standard time
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:21 PM
Mar 2021

otherwise you make mockery of the clock. It becomes simply weird Noon is now at 1PM forever!

Why not change the workday from 9 to 5, to 8 to 4? keep standard time as well, then everybody's happy

sir pball

(4,726 posts)
13. Noon isn't 12pm except for a very few places
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:26 PM
Mar 2021

Noon, the point at which the sun is highest in the sky, isn't at or even near 12pm in most places. Getting towards the edges of a time zone it can be over an hour off - in Indianapolis it's usually around quarter after 1. And even if it does change, so what? We don't use sundials anymore. Give me the extra hour in the evening, please and thank you.

Blues Heron

(5,898 posts)
15. At a certain point we have to deal with the day we're given
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:34 PM
Mar 2021

Why force people to get up super early in the winter though? That's just weird and odd. It makes sense in the summer because the sun is there to greet you - that's why we don't do DST in winter.

The time zone issue would get even more extreme and weird with year round DST

We have a good compromise now. Going to year round DST was tried and rejected once - lets not make the same mistake again.

misanthrope

(7,405 posts)
21. The children of comfortable Americans don't go to bus stops
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 08:26 PM
Mar 2021

So they won't care. All they know is longer afternoons promote retail spending.

FoxNewsSucks

(10,375 posts)
9. First thing L'il Marco has gotten right
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:14 PM
Mar 2021

His initial talk against MF45 doesn't count, since he took all that back and spent the next 4 years kissing tRump's smelly gelatinous ass.

Eliminate "standard" time this year, make DST the new "standard" time.

Dagstead Bumwood

(3,524 posts)
16. I would have preferred they just split the difference and settle on the half hour.
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 07:35 PM
Mar 2021

Yeah, it would throw is a bit out of line with the rest if the world, but, rugged individualism and all that. Moot point anyway, since this is the only plan b4ing discussed.

Let's get it done once and for all.

Raine

(30,540 posts)
18. I'd rather Standard Tme be kept year round
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 08:23 PM
Mar 2021

rather then DST but I'm sick of the switching back forth ... leave it one way or the other.

Delmette2.0

(4,141 posts)
24. I agree.
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 09:33 PM
Mar 2021

I am so tired of switching the time. As soon as i get us to the new hours it is time to switch back.

Blues Heron

(5,898 posts)
22. I like the switching. After a week or so - who remembers what the fuss was all about?
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 08:47 PM
Mar 2021

Both other solutions are plain foolish because after all daylight savings time is a good idea. It makes a lot of sense to get going earlier in the summer and to adjust the entire work schedule accordingly. Likewise, it makes sense not to do that in winter, because you don't have that early morning light due to the basic and immutable geometry of our orbit.



Retrograde

(10,068 posts)
23. I don't care how they define time - just keep it the same year round!
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 08:57 PM
Mar 2021

We can all start using GMT for all I care as long it doesn't shift twice a year.

krispos42

(49,445 posts)
25. Permanent DST is just changing your time zone.
Fri Mar 12, 2021, 10:39 PM
Mar 2021

Central Time becomes Eastern Time.

Pacific Time becomes Mountain Time.

Eastern Time becomes Atlantic Time.

Mountain Time becomes Central Time.

It's not complicated. Figure out which time zone you want to be in and leave the damn clocks alone.

Stop deciding when life starts by numbers on the clock and start basing it on local sunrise and sunset. For example, school districts in Connecticut should start earlier (by the clock) then Indiana simply because Connecticut is further east in the time zone.

Same sun time but slightly different clock time.

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