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Florida Lawmakers Approve Year-Round Daylight Saving Time (tampabay.com)

JustAnotherOldGuy writes: It seems like we're seeing a sudden outbreak of common sense from one of the most unlikely places. Florida might become the third state -- after Hawaii and Arizona -- to be done with the hassle of changing their clocks twice a year. Yesterday, the Senate overwhelmingly passed the Sunshine Protection Act in under one minute, with only two dissenters. The House had already passed it 103-11 last month. Now it has to be signed by Gov. Rick Scott. If Scott passes it, however, it still has to go through Congress before Florida has Daylight Savings Time all year long.

16 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. Permanent daylight saving time... by Chuq · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't they mean "Atlantic Standard Time" ?

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    - Chuq
  2. PLEASE by markdavis · · Score: 5, Insightful

    PLEASE bring this to my State (and all States). I am so over changing time twice a year for absolutely no real reason my whole life. And picking to stay on Daylight Saving Time year-round ("permanent daylight saving time" is the best possible choice. I am very jealous. And yet, this could be the start of something great...

    -Changing time-
    Saves energy: FALSE
    Helps farmers: FALSE
    Gives extra sleep: FALSE
    Reduces accidents: FALSE
    Causes lots of lost productivity: TRUE
    Causes a nightmare for people with sleep disorders: TRUE
    Causes minor health problems even for normal people: TRUE
    Generates a lot of hassle and confusion: TRUE
    Hurts the economy: TRUE

    1. Re:PLEASE by sgage · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'm for staying with Standard Time year round. The sun should be at its highest at noon, not 1:00. 12:00 noon should be sun on the meridian, more or less - it depends on how far east or west you are from the center of your timezone.

  3. Re:This is stupid... by sjames · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Other than sunrise, sunset, and high noon, all of our measured time is "fake". Since the clocks don't care, might as well set them conveniently.

  4. Re:Idiots. by sgage · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I agree - time of sunrise and sunset should be symmetrical around noon.

  5. Re:This is stupid... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 4, Informative

    Solar noon/midnight should be as close to 12am/pm as possible.

  6. Re:This is stupid... by Nostalgia4Infinity · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why?

  7. Congress has to pass this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Florida will probably get shot down.

    Too soon?

  8. The closer you are to the equator by sandbagger · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The less your opinion about Daylight Savings matters.

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    ---- The above post was generated by the Turing Institute. Maybe.
    1. Re:The closer you are to the equator by clovis · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The less your opinion about Daylight Savings matters.

      That's true, and also the closer you are to the "land of the midnight sun" the less you care about DST.

      Furthermore, people on the eastern side of a time zone have a different feeling about DST than those on the western side, because on the western side the sun rises and sets an hour later than for those on the eastern side so they have a built-in DST advantage, or punishment, depending on how long before sunrise you have to get up to get the kids to school.

  9. Re:Cluster fuck coming by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well Arizona is already in their own timezone.

    It's true. Right now in Arizona, it's 9:12pm, March 8, 1952.

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    You are welcome on my lawn.
  10. Re:Cluster fuck coming by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Funny
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    #DeleteFacebook
  11. Re: Cluster fuck coming by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Well, given that the state does not even want something closest to natural time, where the sun is at the highest point closest to noon, but instead wants the artificial DST in effect permanently, is weird. The alternative of getting rid of DST permanently does make a sort of sense at least.

    It's Florida! People on the beach don't care what time it is, the retirees don't care what time it is, so why insist on DST? Business won't make more money, you won't save more energy, and you've got a surplus of sunlight already. If DST is a pain, why not get rid of it?

    Why not make it UTC time then they can have daylight in the middle of the night, that would be good for business too!

  12. Re:Idiots. by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know, I think the flat earthers are on to something here. Equal daylight for everyone!

  13. Re:Gonna suck. by hazardPPP · · Score: 5, Insightful

    No.

    In the modern Western world, we work on a 9-5 schedule (or thereabouts). DST was invented to shift more daylight hours in the summer to the afternoon and evening, so that people could enjoy this daylight after work. Otherwise, a lot of the daylight hours would be very early in the morning, when most people are asleep or getting ready for/going to work.

    So going to DST year-round actually makes sense, because it permanently shifts daylight into the afternoon, i.e. into after-work hours. I don't care how far that puts nominal noon away from real/solar noon, because time-keeping is anyway just a convention made up to make people's lives easier. So we can bend this convention a bit to suit our present purposes. Moving to DST permanently is easier than getting everyone to switch to working 7-3 or whatever.

  14. Re:Cluster fuck coming by PrimaryConsult · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Puerto Rico is in Atlantic time, which matches Eastern Daylight time. So with this change, Florida and Puerto Rico would always be in the same time zone.
    MA also wants to join Atlantic time. NYers when asked also want to stay in EDT permanently (aka join Atlantic time).

    Let's make this real easy. Move all states that touch the Atlantic ocean to year-round Atlantic time. Sorted.