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

Posted by BeauHD on from the enough-is-enough dept.

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.

4 of 393 comments (clear)

  1. 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

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

    Florida will probably get shot down.

    Too soon?

  3. 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.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  4. 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.