Tag Archives: DST

national news, State news

Standard or Daylight?

Now that many millions of Americans have been told to “fall back” to Standard Time, I want to revisit an issue that comes up about, oh, twice a year … or about the time we go to Daylight Saving Time or back to Standard Time.

At issue is whether we ought to keep switching between DST and Standard Time. For me, I don’t care. It never has bothered me to change the clocks in my house twice annually. I don’t feel sleep deprived after losing the hour in the spring when we, um, “spring forward.” Nor does falling back in the autumn give me any grief.

However, if we were to cease the back-and-forth, my preference would be to stick with a permanent Daylight Saving Time, I like the longer daylight hours in the evening.

The 2019 Texas Legislature was set to ask Texas residents what we preferred: permanent DST, permanent Standard Time, or keep changing back and forth.  The Legislature, though, couldn’t prepare a statewide resolution in time and the measure died a quiet death that hardly anyone even noticed.

Now we hear about Congress possibly enacting a federal law.  Same thing, folks. If we’re going to keep a permanent time on the books, I would ask our federal lawmakers to stick with a permanent Daylight Saving Time.

Absent that, well, then just allow us to change our clocks in the spring and again in the fall.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Yes, on permanent DST!

Great day in this glorious North Texas morning! The United States Senate has voted unanimously — via voice vote — to enact a law making Daylight Saving Time a permanent policy.

No more switching back and forth, springing forward in the spring and falling back in the fall.

Let me stipulate, though, that I never have had a strenuous objection to this twice-per-year time change. I learned long ago to let my body adjust to the time change.

However, if given the choice between having permanent Standard Time or permanent Daylight Saving Time, I much prefer the latter. I like the extended daylight in the afternoon.

The Texas Legislature tried a couple of sessions ago to enact a statewide policy change. It sought to put the matter to a vote: either keep the back/forth or switch to one time schedule or the other. Had I been given the chance to vote on it, I would have opted to keep the plan as is. It didn’t get out of the Legislature, which ran out of time; lawmakers were too busy dawdling around with other foolishness to finish work on the legislation in time.

The U.S. House of Representatives now must decide. It ought to follow the clear and distinct lead set by their Senate colleagues and go along with the change to permanent DST, which would be effective in 2023.

It’s remarkable that the Senate — given its deep divisions on damn near everything — would be so united on this matter.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Permanent DST? Sure, why not?

I want to make the case once more for a change in our clock-changing regimen.

We’ve just backed the time off one hour, returning to Standard Time. I am not dedicated to any sort of reform, but if we’re going to do away with the twice-yearly time change, I want to argue on behalf of permanent Daylight Saving Time.

Why that instead of permanent Standard Time? I guess it’s because I dislike the sun setting at 5:30 p.m. Man, it got dark quickly tonight on this first day of Standard Time.

Yes, the sun rises a bit earlier in the morning … at least for a while. Earth’s rotation will take care of that eventually as we get near the first day of winter around the third week of December. After that the days start lengthening.

I want to stipulate that I have no particular problem with the time change. Springing forward in the spring at the start of DST doesn’t bother me; nor does fall back in the autumn to Standard Time. I know, though, that some legislators here in Texas want to do away with the time change. We were supposed to be able to vote on it in 2019 but the Legislature never got the bill ready in time to submit it. The choices would have been to (a) keep the time change, (b) settle on permanent Standard Time or (c) settle on permanent Daylight Saving Time. I would have voted to keep the time change.

If we are forced to scrap the status quo, then I would argue for permanent DST.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Permanent DST? Hmm, why not?

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This time change thing has produced more debate on whether we should keep it or switch to a permanent time standard.

To be honest, none of this affects me personally all that much, but if I had to make a choice, here is what I would suggest.

Switch to a permanent Daylight Saving Time. Make it national. Pass a law that says that all of our states adhere to the same way of determining what time of day it is.

Texas flirted with the idea of switching to either permanent DST, permanent Standard Time or keeping the status quo. The 2019 Legislature ran out of time to send the issue to the voters.

Now we hear a bipartisan group of U.S. senators backing a notion to switch to a permanent Daylight Saving Time arrangement, according to a report on National Public Radio.

Some Senators Want Permanent Daylight Saving Time | 88.9 KETR

When was the last time you had Democrats and Republicans agree on something? I know. It seems like forever.

Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, is trying to resurrect the permanent DST issue. As NPR reports: He cited multiple benefits to permanent DST including potentially fewer car accidents and easing seasonal depression.

What’s more, according to NPR: The effort is supported by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, including Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, who echoed Rubio in highlighting the potential benefits of extending DST. “Studies have found year-round Daylight Saving Time would improve public health, public safety, and mental health — especially important during this cold and dark COVID winter,” Markey said.

Not everyone is on board, according to NPR: Opponents of permanent daylight saving time note that winter mornings would be darker, with children more often having to wait for the school bus in the dark.

I happen to prefer the longer afternoon and early evening daylight, which DST brings to us. Remember, too, that one of the selling points of DST is that it would conserve electrical energy, given that we don’t turn our lights on so early at the end of the day.

I am not going to lose any sleep over this, no pun intended. I’m just delighted to see Democrats and Republicans agreeing on something … for a change.

State news

Fall back … and get set for the complaints

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Get ready for it.

Americans are going to “fall back” to Standard Time overnight and many of us are going to bitch to high heaven about having to change from Daylight Saving Time to Standard Time.

I want to be clear about two points.

One is that I don’t have a problem with changing back and forth. We advance the clocks an hour in the spring to commence Daylight Saving Time and then we set ’em back an hour in the fall to return to Standard Time. I hear it constantly: Oh, the time changes messes me up; it messes up the kids, too.

I cannot speak to the issues of parents with young children, since my own sons are grown; one of them has a young daughter, so he’s got to deal with her issues. As for me, I don’t have a problem with the time change.

I get why we have had Daylight Saving Time in the first place; it was to conserve energy, enjoy late-in-the-day daylight and refrain from turning on lights and consuming electrical energy. I actually like DST for that reason.

That said, if the Texas Legislature was able in 2019 to craft a change, I would have voted to keep DST on for the entire year. The Legislature sought to offer us a choice: full time DST, full-time Standard Time or keep the status quo by changing back and forth twice each year. The legislation didn’t make it out of the Legislature in time for a vote.

So, here we are. We’ll change back to Standard Time. The sun will rise in the morning a bit earlier but it will go dark earlier in the evening.

Yawn … and many of us will gripe about it. You won’t hear a word of complaint from me.

local news

Time change? What’s the big deal?

I am not willing to declare it, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that I am the only living American who does not object to the back-and-forth of switching from standard time to daylight saving time and back to standard time.

Americans had to “fall back” overnight to standard time.

What does it mean? It means the sun rises an hour earlier than it had for several months and sets an hour earlier at the end of the day. This is what we call “standard time.”

Daylight saving time makes us “spring forward” one hour. It gives us more daylight at the end of the day.

To be honest, this back and forth doesn’t bug me nearly as much as it does most, if not all, of my friends. It might bother my family members, too. No one has ever expressed any distaste to me openly; maybe they will if they read this blog post.

Were I to have a preference for a permanent arrangement, it would be to keep daylight saving time in place year round. It has been seen as an energy conservation initiative, requiring fewer hours daily of electricity — in the form of lights needed to brighten our surroundings. I never have understood why folks object to the daylight saving time, given the noble reasons for establishing it in the first place.

But … they do. To them I say, “Phooey!”

As for this switching back to standard time, hey, it’s no big deal, man! Just go with the flow.

environmental news

All this daylight is worth keeping year ’round

I like Daylight Saving Time. I like it so much I believe I now want the government to keep it year ’round.

Let me stipulate that I understand the laws of the cosmos, which is that half the year brings more darkness than light. It all has to do with the position of Earth in relation to the sun, how Earth tilts on its axis, providing the Northern Hemisphere with more daylight between the vernal and autumnal equinoxes (from March to September).

But still …

I also will stipulate that I don’t mind the switching back and forth between Daylight Saving and Standard times.

However, I do like the notion of keeping DST on the books all year long. My wife and I enjoy the late-in-the-day sunshine that motivates us to run our errands well into the early and mid evening.

Given that we’re retired now and we don’t have to be anywhere early in the day — which means we can sleep in a little if we so desire — that gives us more time later in the day to do this or that chore outdoors.

What’s more, my environmentalist tendency reminds me that we returned to DST during an energy crisis; the government thought it was important to preserve energy by enacting the Daylight Saving Time as a hedge against burning too much electricity — you know, to power the lights.

I wonder if Texas might consider joining some other states that have gone to DST permanently. Well … legislators? Are you game?