"Sunshine Protection Act" — in effect for BAFS 2024?

[arlcxrider]

As passed by US Senate would institute DST year-round, effective Nov. 2023. Still awaiting House action.

Those 8:30 sunrises in Dec. and Jan. are going to prove popular, I’m sure. In DC the latest sunrise under EST is 7:27, which lasts for 14 days between Dec. 29 and Jan. 11. The earliest sunset is 16:46 — I’m not sure moving it to 17:46 represents that much of a “win,” after having stumbled out of bed 3 hours before sunrise.

In effect you’re trying to adjust your longitude to correct for a problem created by latitude, and that is beyond the jurisdiction of the US Congress.

They tried this once before, in 1974, and it was widely panned. The reason it “feels” better (and season depression lifts) this time of year is there is more daylight, not because the hands of the clock are pointing at a different number.

Some of the northern states situated near the western edges of the current time zones (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, the Dakotas, etc.) might feel pressure to move one time zone west, so this permanent shift will have achieved nothing.

[DrP]

@arlcxrider 218271 wrote:

As passed by US Senate would institute DST year-round, effective Nov. 2023. Still awaiting House action.

Those 8:30 sunrises in Dec. and Jan. are going to prove popular, I’m sure. In DC the latest sunrise under EST is 7:27, which lasts for 14 days between Dec. 29 and Jan. 11. The earliest sunset is 16:46 — I’m not sure moving it to 17:46 represents that much of a “win,” after having stumbled out of bed 3 hours before sunrise.

In effect you’re trying to adjust your longitude to correct for a problem created by latitude, and that is beyond the jurisdiction of the US Congress.

They tried this once before, in 1974, and it was widely panned. The reason it “feels” better (and season depression lifts) this time of year is there is more daylight, not because the hands of the clock are pointing at a different number.

Some of the northern states situated near the western edges of the current time zones (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, the Dakotas, etc.) might feel pressure to move one time zone west, so this permanent shift will have achieved nothing.

Thank you for posting this. I am very unhappy. It is astronomically incorrect and, as an early riser, very depressing. I have written to my Representative to request a no vote when it gets to the house and let my senators know that I am unhappy with their vote (it was unanimous. Ugh).

[Henry]

Growing up in Alaska none of this ever made any sense anyway.

[Author]

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