Known in recent years for decisive omissions and kneeling partisanship, the US Senate has somehow managed a unanimous vote on measures to create daylight savings time all year round.
If the Sunshine Protection Act is enacted, it means that the semi-annual chore of changing the hour hand of the clock will be stopped in 2023.
The law to abolish clock changes was a regular function of the Florida State Capitol, dating back about 14 years. Always popular during long-day sessions. And it was like a seasonal hobby for US Senator Marco Rubio, who sponsored the bill.
And why? Changing the clock in April can be painful. I was particularly hard when my kid was a teenager and the late high school bell rang at 7:20 am. This is the time we called “6:20” a week before the time change.
I organize my life around being a slow riser. This is not a moral failure. I was born that way. I don’t attend breakfast or post sunrise on Instagram. Subsequent flights from town will pay a considerable additional charge. After noon, I am particular about the breakfast menu, so I refrain from making judgments when eating. I haven’t been trusted to drive heavy equipment or cars during single digit morning hours on busy streets, so I’ve been successful in working from home lately.
So I should admire this action among all, right? There is no harsh transition due to time shifting. After dinner, take a walk on the beach. Still, sadly, good spring ideas don’t always feel the same as in winter.
I tried it last time
Congress last voted to make the country daylight savings time all year round in 1973, the beginning of the energy crisis of the 1970s. Ancient history from the age of the old. This was the idea of saving energy. Permanent daylight savings time is likely to be further saved if the normal daylight savings time season saves energy.
But the result is long, and the dark morning hours are winter. “Daylight saving time will be intolerable all year round,” was the headline of the Daytona Beach Evening News editorial.
However, after eight Florida schoolchildren died in a pre-dawn car accident, Governor Rubin Askew called for a special session in January 1974 to completely eliminate daylight savings time on the Florida Peninsula. (Salient is Central Standard Time and can be complicated.) Congress refused to vote quickly, and members turned around and went home. I was definitely complaining all the time.
Still, it was the misfortune of many people that Askew was reacting. When it came into effect, daylight savings time was popular throughout the year, but the general public turned it on within a year. Dark mornings at the bus stop afflicted many parents during daylight savings time all year round. Commuting before dawn wasn’t fun either.
Gas saving? According to a survey by the Ministry of Transport at that time, it can be ignored. The longer the hours of sunshine in the afternoon, the more people were on the road in the evening.
Energy saving? It saved lighting energy when President Woodrow Wilson demanded that daylight savings time be imposed during World War I. However, the air conditioner is not in use yet, and late afternoon in Florida, before the sun sets, is the most difficult time for a compressor to compress at work.
Conclusion: At best, a small amount of energy savings. But still, more spring outdoor time. Beach time after work for Florida people! Yes, it seems depressing on winter mornings, but it’s safer to drive on the way home from work.
Therefore, even if the measure is a reassuring demonstration that the US Senate can do something from time to time, the broader effect seems to be a kind of cleaning.
Tell me about it after Halloween in 2023.
Mark Lane is a Daytona Beach News-Journal Columnist. His email address is [email protected]
This article was originally published in The Gainesville Sun: Mark Lane: Keeping the clock the same now sounds great, but wait for the winter