I mentioned last week that proposals to extend Daylight Saving Time
appear to have a good chance of passing.
I looked up a couple of sunrise times and learned something
interesting.
Sunrise on October 27 — 7:18 EDT / 6:18 EST
Sunrise on November 27 — 7:54 EDT / 6:54 EST
Sunrise on December 21 — 7:16 EST
Right now, the timing of the end of Daylight Savings Time is
conveniently set so that the sun doesn’t normally rise significantly later (as
measured in civil time) than it does on the Winter Solstice.
However, with the proposal to push DST on to the last Sunday of
November, the darkest morning of the year will regularly be the last
day of DST.
Here in Connecticut, we’re a bit to the east of the theoretical center
of Eastern Time. If you look to locales that are on extreme western
edges of their time zones…. mid-to-late November mornings are going
to seem awfully dark.
We will adapt if DST changes, but I still think that the estimate of
energy savings resulting from DST ought to be reexamined, at least in
the name of making an informed decision with accurate information.
…and if we really are pushing to extend DST, perhaps we ought to go
to year-round DST (presumably with changes to school schedules to
boot).
