Why Massachusetts should defect from its time zone

[MADem]

Sunset before 4:15? It doesn’t have to be this way

AS SUNSET CREEPS EARLIER—it’s down to 6:19 p.m. today in Boston—we’re already dreading what happens a month from now: Clocks turn back. The first Sunday morning, it’s fantastic. An extra hour of sleep! Later that day, though, the honeymoon ends. Why is it pitch black before dinner?

The same weekend we experience these conflicting emotions, Americans in Arizona and Hawaii will do something foreign to most of us: They won’t change their clocks.

They’ve found one time that works for them all year round. Here in New England, we have that option, too. It’s an alternative to the Eastern Time Zone called Atlantic Standard Time or AST. Used in eastern Canada, the Caribbean, and much of South America, it matches the time we already use in the summer, and would simply mean that in the fall, we don’t have to fall back.

The idea of defecting from our time zone might seem strange. Yet the emerging science and the geographic reality of life in New England make it an idea worth serious consideration....


http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2014/10/04/why-massachusetts-should-defect-from-its-time-zone/zusFxWGPQmwv6bfUb1ssxH/story.html

[Warpy]

1. Morning people hate DST

and most people hate switching back and forth, myself included.

However, DST does make more sense year round with more light in the evening cutting domestic electricity use. Bright sunshine in the morning only blinds the drivers going to work. Places of business always have ceilings covered with fluorescent lighting whether it's sunny or socked in and raining. It's home use that is the most amenable to reduction with an extra hour of sunlight in the evening.

This makes a great deal of sense for Boston, especially. Working office jobs was hell, you'd get to work in pitch darkness and maybe see a sliver of gray sky toward the west when you went home in pitch darkness. It was depressing beyond belief.

[MADem]

2. Go to work in the dark, go home in the dark! I'm all for joining the Atlantic Time Brigade!

It would make more sense for people who hop between NB and ME, too--NB is an hour off.

[penndragon69]

3. Indiana has the same problem

Geographically we are in the central time zone. But because some people wanted
To be on wall street time 45 years ago, we got moved to EST. It's always dark when
It should be light.

[MADem]

4. You have my sympathies.

I don't like this time of year--I'll be looking for excuses to fly south to the sun as often as I can manage.

[brush]

10. Wasn't it at one time Indiana and Arizona the states that didn't change to DST? nt

[Mister Nightowl]

5. Don't fear the Darknessssssssssssssssssssssss

[MADem]

7. Yuck! It's actually the GREY that I dislike, and the low clouds, and the tons of snow....!!! nt

[pipi_k]

13. Grey is horrible!

I actually prefer the dark to grey.

As I was telling someone last week, though...I have Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the waning sunshine makes life very difficult in the winter.

The one and only saving grace is the snow, which, on a sunny day, sort of makes up for the lack of sunlight. The days are shorter, but the sunlight can be intense when it reflects off of the snow cover. I try to soak up as much of it as I can.

As winter turns to spring, it all turns around and I get anxiety instead of depression. The time changes really mess with people who have SAD.

[MADem]

14. +1!! nt

[Wheezy]

6. One nice thing about AZ

No time change. We can't claim much in the way of good things these days, but we've got that going for us.

[MADem]

8. And it's not humid!

A friend of mine moved from the Tampa area in FL to Phoenix AZ and was THRILLED at the lack of humidity.

Some people are sensitive to humidity--I don't care for it when it gets terribly oppressive.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. We need to move the EST/DST change dates BACK to where they were before 2007

At this point, the east coast is only on ET for barely over 4 months. It's stupid, although probably not as bad as when DST started in January under Nixon (when I was going to school every morning with a flashlight).

[DeadLetterOffice]

11. When you go...

... can you take the NY counties along your border with you?

I despise going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark, and I hate that by the time the kids finish their homework, it's too dark to go out and play.

[MADem]

12. Really--it's depressing!!!!! nt