How would permanent Daylight Saving Time impact Vermont and New York?
SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt. —
Daylight Saving Time is a controversial, albeit pretty standard part of life in the United States. But what would happen if it went away?
The House of Representatives has passed a bill that, if passed by the Senate and approved by the President, would make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the United States.
While some are cheering the effort, making this practice permanent would have some long-lasting effects on the amount of sunlight we get during the winter and summer in Vermont and Northern New York.
Darker mornings, lighter evenings
If permanent Daylight Saving Time were to take effect, that would mean sunrise on the east coast wouldn’t occur until 8:30 a.m. in December and January. However, the tradeoff would be that the evenings would stay lighter longer, with the sunset time during December and January stretching to 5:15 p.m.
What about Standard Time?
What would happen if lawmakers flipped the clocks back one final time to Standard Time? That would result in extremely early summer sunrises around 4 a.m. in June. And you could say goodbye to long summer nights, as it would also make sunset during June as early as 7:40 p.m. While interesting, this switch would ultimately result in a lot of wasted daylight hours, as most people are still asleep at 4 a.m.
Can we compromise?
Another idea would be for lawmakers to compromise by only turning back the clocks 30 minutes. This might appease those who still utilize Daylight Saving Time for early morning starts, but prevent the whiplash most people feel from moving the clocks twice per year.