For years, you’ve read, in this newspaper, and elsewhere, of the need to eliminate Standard Time. And, in 2007, following an energy crisis, President George W. Bush changed the system as we know it by extending DST by three weeks — starting it two weeks before it had been (in mid-March) and ending it a week later (first Sunday of November.)
This, indeed, was a great start. But now, there’s a greater need to end it completely.
Think of it like this.
In two weeks, we’ll set clocks back, on Sunday, Nov. 1, 2020, at 2 a.m. On Oct. 31, the sun will set here at 5:52 p.m. Then, Nov. 1, it will set at 4:51 p.m.
This means people who work a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule will leave the office in near complete darkness.
The benefits of keeping DST far outweigh going back to Standard Time.
Some of those important factors include:
• An extra hour of sunlight for restaurant owners who wish to continue to offer outdoor dining.
• An extra hour of sunlight for those who are hurt by the darkness and who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. (The National Institutes of Health reports 6% of the American population suffers from SAD and around 14% suffer mild symptoms of it.)
• More sunlight for recreational activities for young people, something that is in dire need these days, especially when one considers how much time kids spend on electronic devices.
We could go on here with more examples, but it should be clear by now — it’s time for Standard Time to be eliminated in favor of year-round Daylight Saving Time. It would need to be a federal change — it’s too difficult for states to make the change individually.
So whomever it is sitting in the White House after noon on Jan. 20, 2021, we hope that man makes the change forthwith.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.