JonXL
Active member
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- Jul 9, 2021
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The US Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent throughout the country.
What do folks here think of this move? Myself, I am very opposed to the idea of permanent DST. I dislike DST to begin with, but it's currently tolerable* because it's in the summer when it's sunny all the time anyway. But applying DST to winter would be disastrous. Up north in winter, sunrise would come around 9:00. There are all sorts of reasons this is bad. The issue of children having to wait for the bus in the flat out darkness hits me personally (where I am, even when it's dark in the morning there is a little twilight at the kid's bus stop in the winter). But this move would also impact almost everyone's health negatively. When folks talk about the negative health impacts of "springing forward", they miss the negative impacts of simply being sprung forward
The ‘good’ news for folks like me is that we can see hope in this either not passing the House (who say they support it but that it’s not a priority) or being signed by the President. On that latter point, our President is at least old enough to recall the last time the US switched to permanent DST. It lasted a few months before public outcry forced it back. One source I read said support for permanent DST in the '70s was around 70% before implementation but dropped to 40% after. So even if this becomes law, it won’t be for long.
But what does everyone else here think?
I’ve opened a poll to get your opinion, but please share your reasoning in the thread!
____________________
* It's less tolerable over the last few years than it used to be since it was expanded to its current start and end dates, but still livable.
What do folks here think of this move? Myself, I am very opposed to the idea of permanent DST. I dislike DST to begin with, but it's currently tolerable* because it's in the summer when it's sunny all the time anyway. But applying DST to winter would be disastrous. Up north in winter, sunrise would come around 9:00. There are all sorts of reasons this is bad. The issue of children having to wait for the bus in the flat out darkness hits me personally (where I am, even when it's dark in the morning there is a little twilight at the kid's bus stop in the winter). But this move would also impact almost everyone's health negatively. When folks talk about the negative health impacts of "springing forward", they miss the negative impacts of simply being sprung forward
Why Daylight Saving Time Is Unhealthy – a Neurologist Explains
By altering the body’s internal clock, ‘springing forward’ may contribute to an increase in heart attacks and strokes.
www.govexec.com
The ‘good’ news for folks like me is that we can see hope in this either not passing the House (who say they support it but that it’s not a priority) or being signed by the President. On that latter point, our President is at least old enough to recall the last time the US switched to permanent DST. It lasted a few months before public outcry forced it back. One source I read said support for permanent DST in the '70s was around 70% before implementation but dropped to 40% after. So even if this becomes law, it won’t be for long.
But what does everyone else here think?
I’ve opened a poll to get your opinion, but please share your reasoning in the thread!
____________________
* It's less tolerable over the last few years than it used to be since it was expanded to its current start and end dates, but still livable.
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