Let the Light Shine On! New Jersey Close Keeping Daylight Saving Time For Good
It's the debate we have after every time change. Why do we keep doing this?
Gain an hour, lose light, lose an hour, get light. Are we over it?
Debate is the keyword here because we always talk about getting rid of the time change and sticking with Daylight Saving Time, but nothing ever seems to be done about it.
According to NJ.com, nationwide daylight saving time began more than a century ago during World War I.
The reasoning, at that time, made sense.
By moving the clocks ahead an hour, "the country could divert a bit of coal-fired electricity to the military instead of using it for an hour of home power. It was again adopted in World War II."
Well, we're not in war, at least not yet.
From a health standpoint, the extra light does wonders for many.
Seasonal Affective Disorder is a real thing. According to the Mayo Clinic, SAD is defined as:
a type of depression that's related to changes in seasons — <abbr title="seasonal affective disorder">SAD</abbr> begins and ends at about the same time every year. If you're like most people with <abbr title="seasonal affective disorder">SAD</abbr>, your symptoms start in the fall and continue into the winter months.
On Tuesday, March 15, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed what they are calling Sunshine Protect Act.
If it makes it through the House it will head to the President's desk to be signed.
This would be mean no time change in New Jersey and in the United States as a whole.
Daylight Saving Time would be permanent beginning in 2023, so we would have two more time changes before we say goodbye to "springing ahead" and "falling back."
Arizona and Hawaii are already ahead of us. They did away with time changes a while ago.
Extra light at the beach. Does it get any better than that? Here's where the best beaches are.