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Massachusetts Considers Ending The Scourge Of Daylight Saving Time System
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 12, 2017
Modified Jan 12, 2017
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 12, 2017
Modified Jan 12, 2017
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As you are no doubt already aware, certain Gothamist writers have very passionate, possibly psychotic opinions about the Daylight Saving Time system, the biggest chronological scam in human history BAR NONE. But what started as one man's bi-yearly chance to make fun of Chris Martin's family tree and draw pictures of depressed cows has slowly grown into a national movement (not that this means everyone is following in our footsteps, but there is no such thing as a coincidence). The great state absolutely okay enough state of Massachusetts has tasked a special commission with deciding whether they should observe daylight saving time year-round, which could have ramifications for the entire East Coast. Suck it, Chris Martin's long-dead great great grandfather!
According to an AP report, the latest battle in the war on DST was not technically sparked by the disturbed ramblings of a blogger, but rather the calm ramblings of local columnist Tom Emswiler. His argument in the Boston Globe was so convincing, he was actually named by a state senator to be part of the commission.
The benefits of making DST a year-round event (note: we never advocated against DST specifically, but rather against the system of switching back and forth unnecessarily—just adopt one time frame as "time," we don't care which one! Let states decide! Vivere Libertatem et Tempus!) always comes back to the age-old argument of morning people vs. evening people. If they adopt DST as "time," there would be more sunlight in the evenings in the winter time (for example, as it stands now at this time of year, the sun generally sets around 4-4:30 p.m.). That would lead to more energy savings (energy consumption goes down when there's more sunlight) and less seasonal depression.
The major downside would be less sunlight early in the morning before 7 a.m. Would you rather have more sunlight when you wake up, or more sunlight when you get out of work? Other than that, the only concern lawmakers seem to have is that they're concerned people will FREAK OUT if only Mass. goes forward with such a plan.
“I have a lot of concerns … from the safety aspect, from the economy aspect, from a confusion aspect,” said [Republican state Senator Paul] Frost, who wondered how Boston could be in one time zone part of the year while states barely an hour to the north and south could be in another.
Perhaps Frost should talk to the enlightened folks in Arizona, who have eschewed the DST system since 1967, whether they curl up into a ball if they happen to travel to neighboring New Mexico during the winter. (They could also ask the good people of Hawaii, who have opted out of the system since 1967 as well, but I imagine folks there would have far more pressing concerns than the time of day if they wandered into the neighboring ocean in the middle of winter.) Alternatively, Frost could consult Axis Maps cartographer Andy Woodruff's very thorough analyzation of the DST system, or if he likes his medicine with a lot of sugar, John Oliver's report on the chronological sham.
Some members of the commission seem to only be in favor of such a bold move if the rest of the New England region went along with the change as well (a Rhode Island lawmaker proposed a similar bill last year). Either way, they are expected to make their recommendations by March 31st.
Tagged
Massachusetts
daylight saving time
dst
send me before congress and I will testify
sunlight
the hill I will die on
time
war
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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