Do We Set Our Clocks Back, Or Are We Stuck On Daylight Saving Time?

October 30, 2018


Florida residents will still need to set their clocks back one hour this weekend, even though Gov. Rick Scott signed a billed to keep daylight saving time year round.

The Legislature passed the bill that Scott signed earlier this year. But the change ultimately requires Congressional approval.

If Congress approves, Northwest Florida would be one hour ahead of neighboring Alabama during part of the year, including winter. For example, on Christmas Day if it were 10 a.m. in North Escambia, it would be 9 a.m. in Atmore. The idea of year-round daylight-saving time has been promoted as a way to help the state’s tourism industry, as people would be able to stay out later with the additional sunlight. Hawaii and most of Arizona currently don’t participate in switching from standard time to daylight-saving time and back. They stay on standard time throughout the year.

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced legislation, the Sunshine Protection Act, that would make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent across the country.  He also introduced the Sunshine State Act, which would give Florida approval to establish permanent DST within its boundaries.

Comments

24 Responses to “Do We Set Our Clocks Back, Or Are We Stuck On Daylight Saving Time?”

  1. RAD on October 31st, 2018 9:35 pm

    Why can’t the time be the same everywhere in the world? UTC, GMT, Zulu time on a 24 hour clock like most militaries use.

    Is it really so hard to comprehend how that would work?

    Perhaps you live on the equator in a part of the world where sunrise is at 0600 hours and sunset is at 1800 hours. Or maybe you live where sunrise is 1400 hours and sunset is 0400 hours. What difference does it make? You still get 12 hours of Daylight and dark. Maybe your kid goes to school at 0800, two hours after daylight, or 1600 hours, two hours after daylight, depending on the example.

    It’s just a number on a clock folks.

  2. Mark on October 31st, 2018 5:43 pm

    The whole world has accepted these time zones (except China). It is a stupid idea that could trigger a chain reaction across the country, which will cause mass disfunction for airlines and the like. Our side of Florida will not benefit from this stupid idea. It would make it dark at 7 am during the majority of the school year.

  3. anne1of2 on October 31st, 2018 2:40 pm

    Note to John Q. Yes, both zones close their polls at 7:00 p.m. When the national news said Bush had won the election in FL they were reporting only the numbers from our eastern time zone. Then they came back and said Uh Oh; the polls in the central time haven’t closed yet. That is what caused the votes in FL to be so close with Bush & Gore that we ended up with the hanging chad mess until January. So no, two time zones do matter. If they call the race in one time zone before the central time zone has closed, people in the central zone may give up and decide not to go and vote. The political people are very aware of this fact.

    00 p.m.

    ;

  4. What time is it? on October 31st, 2018 10:03 am

    I wear a watch on my wrist. I can set it to whatever time I want. That doesn’t mean I get more sunshine or less sunshine than anybody else. The whole concept of DST is stupid. It makes as much sense as changing the names of colors.

  5. Sharon on October 30th, 2018 10:57 pm

    I’m for the time staying in Daylight Savings Time year round in our area. We’re in a rather odd place as the sun shines. If you drive 500 miles to the west, the sun is up at least an hour later than here and we’re in the same time zone. I personally, get depressed in the winter due to less daylight hours that I’m not at work. Those of us who work normal office hours, for the most part, go to work in the dark and go home when it’s already dark as well. I hate going home and it’s already dark at 5 p.m. I know it doesn’t matter to retirees and those who may work shift work etc. but I like to have at least an hour or so of daylight left when I get off work.

  6. MMO4 on October 30th, 2018 10:07 pm

    Just move it 30 minutes one way and be done.

  7. Clock puncher on October 30th, 2018 8:44 pm

    The clock punchers did decide, we voted to eliminate the time change but for some stupid reason Congress has to approve the change.

    Congress, the same folks who couldn’t figure out how to pour water out of a boot with a hole in the toe and the directions on the heel.

  8. Rebear on October 30th, 2018 7:21 pm

    I’m retired, so it doesn’t matter to me. The sun rises and sets every day at approximately the same time. The time change doesn’t affect that. Tourists visiting Florida are on vacation, so how does the time change effect them? The people punching a clock are the only ones that matter. Let them decide.

  9. simple on October 30th, 2018 6:05 pm

    Lose the time change. And while they’re at it, go to the new metric system of time: 100 hours/day. That way you can get 33 hours of sleep, 33 hours of work done, and still have over 30 hours of time to play in a day.

  10. Pat Spedden on October 30th, 2018 5:25 pm

    I love daylight saving time and having daylight into the evening. When I was a child the whole neighborhood was out and playing till dark. I get rather depressed in the winter because of the darkness and I guess I might have a touch of SAD. I say stay on DST year round. ⏰

  11. Kane on October 30th, 2018 3:38 pm

    We already have two time zones in this state, which is very confusing to everyone that does not live here. Lets make it even harder for everyone else to make sense of what time it is here, always keep’em guessing lol.

  12. Toni on October 30th, 2018 2:41 pm

    I wish we’d just stay on standard time and quit with the DST, like a few other states. However, it seems this should be a state/voter issue. Why does Congress have to approve? That’s stupid.

  13. Sharon on October 30th, 2018 2:31 pm

    There are people who boarder the time change along every time zone! Why can’t we change to have more light for tourists? Because you would rather someone else be inconvenienced instead of you? Invalid argument! The state making more money benifits all of us not just politicians. Before you say I only say that because I don’t live in one state and work in the other, think again, that I do!

  14. John Q. Public on October 30th, 2018 1:07 pm

    @Karen M Hughes

    Whose job is it to regulate time if not the government?

    “Sorry man, I was gonna be at work on time today, but your 8AM and my 8AM fall a couple hours apart.”

  15. SLIM JIM on October 30th, 2018 12:58 pm

    leave every thing like it is it is not fair to the working people who are living in fl and working in al and al working in fl and the school kids also so fl loses a dollar they
    will just tax us more

  16. Karen M Hughes on October 30th, 2018 10:59 am

    I’ve always hated DST. It is not the government’s (state or national) job to regulate time. Most of Florida does not have a border with another state; those of us who do will be subjected to a ridiculous time difference with our neighbors. The almighty dollar should not regulate the very time in our lives.

  17. ThePreachersWife on October 30th, 2018 10:46 am

    Still hoping if they do this, AL will do the same. We live in FL, I work in FL, my husband works in AL, we attend church in AL. Way too confusing for me!!!

  18. John Q. Public on October 30th, 2018 10:22 am

    @Bewildered
    Blue time: Set your clocks to the present.
    Red time: Set your clock back 100 years.

    @Anne
    The polls close at the same hour, just in different time zones.
    “Every day for one day of the year”? What?

  19. James Turnipseed on October 30th, 2018 10:09 am

    I live in Alabama. It will probably confuse my atomic clocks, My DVD, My PC, all of which switch automatically.

  20. James on October 30th, 2018 9:51 am

    Happily welcome DST all year! I hate the sun setting by 5pm during the winter. I travel international time zones throughout the year – it’s not rocket science to add or subtract an hour. People have been doing it who live along time zones ever since they were established.

  21. anne1of2 on October 30th, 2018 9:02 am

    None of them will ever convince me that this issue is about tourism. They just hate that the voting polls close at different times in FL and west FL has a mind of its own.
    To make us miserable every day for one day of the year is unfair to those who live here and share our border with AL, period!

  22. Lyn on October 30th, 2018 8:34 am

    Mother Nature doesn’t follow DST… regardless of what time is seen on our clock, she sets the time for the sun to rise and set — and those times are different throughout the year. She set up her schedule thousands of years ago… I don’t think it is ever going to change.

  23. Bewildered on October 30th, 2018 6:16 am

    Good Lord, don’t leave it up to our politicians! To have daylight savings time nationwide, they will be arguing for months over what time it is…. (lets have a blue and a red time

  24. Sam on October 30th, 2018 6:04 am

    Not changing mine.