Time to save daylight savings time

By Ted Cohen/Patch.com

It's time to lobby the critics of more light in the summer. Like, enough already.

They argue it's too dark in the morning but heck, what's a little morning darkness among friends.

After all, change brightens the mood! Let there be warmth.

In fact maybe we should change the clocks four times a year!

Though people in Florida for instance, want to do away with changing their clocks, it's time for them to understand the rite of honoring the vernal equinox and seasonal differences.

Daylight saving time, the practice of setting clocks forward an hour from March until November to gain more daylight during the summer, is kind of meaningless in southern states where every day is the same as the next in terms of climate.

But the people in that region don't understand or appreciate the rite of seasonal change as we do in New England.

The beauty of New England life is the change that occurs four times a year.

Spring brings warmth, a rebirth; summer welcomes sandals, T-shirts and shorts; fall creates beautiful foliage as the leaves change color, winter cold creates blankets of breathtaking white - hopefully including December 25th but not always.

Status quo in life brings lethargy, malaise and boredom.

So let's save daylight savings time. Rite on!

Of course it has a logical beginning even though it's a spiritual significance in states that appreciate the four seasons of the year.

According to the Library of Congress, it was first enacted in 1918 as a fuel cost-saving measure during World War I. It became federal law in 1966.

The official terminology is Daylight Saving Time, according to the law enacted by Congress in 1966, taking effect in 1967 and making DST a permanent time change each year in the United States.

But Daylight Savings Time seems more commonly used.

Most states, including all of New England, observe daylight saving time, though some places around the country have pushed to end it.

Exceptions include Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation, which observes daylight saving time), Hawaii and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands.

The Uniform Time Act of 1966 established a uniform set of rules for states opting to observe daylight saving time.

Lawmakers in several states have pushed for permanent daylight saving time so that Americans don't have to change clocks twice a year, while President Donald Trump has said he wants to do away with it entirely.

In 2018, Florida became the first state to pass legislation — the Sunshine Protection Act — to remain on daylight saving time permanently. No more changing clocks forward or back.

But Congress rejected the legislation.

In 2022, the United States Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act which would have permanently activated daylight saving time, but it did not become law, because it was not approved by the U.S. House of Representatives.

Gotta love the bill's title - Sunshine Protection Act. For those of us who like changing our clocks that bill should have been called Funtime Killer Act.

Why not let states set their own time zones? If the people of Florida want daylight savings time year-round, why not let them do it?

If New England states like changing seasons why can't they stay with what they have ?

What business is it of Congress?

If federalists want to make the argument that uniformity is required, then that is total bunk.

After all, the country has six time zones already so there dies the argument for uniformity.