The dark side of Daylight Saving Time

If you happened to ask any parents with young school children how they liked the switch to Daylight Saving Time this week, no doubt you heard a gnarly groan. 

“We hate it. How do they expect us to get our kids up for school when it’s pitch black?”

Unfortunately, for the remainder of the school year, it’s going to be miserable for parents and their school children. 

And if the Legislature — specifically, our own Sen. Greg Steube and Rep. Jeannette Nunez, R-Miami — have it their way, they hope to persuade Congress to make Florida the first state to adopt year-round Daylight Saving Time. Steube and Nunez sponsored the Senate and House bills, respectively.

Remarkably, their bills sailed unobstructed through their respective houses. Practically no one questioned them. Nunez, when she made her pitch for the bill before a House committee, made only a cursory reference to materials she submitted touting the benefits of DST. She said studies have shown DST improves the economy; saves energy; and improves road and public safety and mental health. Yeah? On that last one, tell that to the parents of elementary and middle schoolers.

Fox13 meteorologist Paul Delegatto in Tampa actually did what the Legislature should have done. He tweeted some of the effects of permanent DST:

• Sunrise in January would be between 8:17 and 8:22 every day.
• Many elementary school kids would spend most of their first period in the dark.
• West coast sports games wouldn’t end until 1:30 a.m.

Check out the two accompanying maps. Cartographer Andy Woodruff figured out the effects on sunrises and sunsets with permanent Daylight Saving or permanent Standard Time. As you can see, if Congress agrees with the Legislature, it will be difficult for Floridians to start their days on the bright side. 

The Legislature got it backward. We (and parents) would prefer permanent Standard Time.