MATTHEW ALBRIGHT

No, Delaware shouldn't adopt Atlantic Time just to get rid of Daylight Saving Time (opinion)

Matthew Albright
The News Journal
President Pro Tempore David McBride, D-New Castle during Governor John Carney's State of the State Address in the Senate Chambers.

Like many people, David McBride hates having to change his clocks because of Daylight Saving Time. Unlike other people, however, he is the most powerful person in the Delaware Senate — so he can actually do something about it.

You would think the president pro tempore would be too busy negotiating controversies over things like gun control, school funding, and criminal justice reform, but apparently he's got time to tackle this pet peeve too.

One might expect a straightforward solution: Just get rid of Daylight Saving Time. But you'd be wrong. In fact, McBride's idea, announced Monday, would yank Delaware out of the Eastern Time Zone and put our clocks somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

If this sounds drastic, it is. It's a perfect illustration of the bizarre logical and legislative pretzels into which state leaders often have to twist themselves in the face of federal mandates.

Here's the problem: Any state can "opt out" of Daylight Saving Time — Arizona, Hawaii and several U.S. territories already do. But the law does not allow states to opt out of Standard Time, staying in Daylight Saving Time permanently. 

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So if you want to get rid of the dreaded "fall back" and "spring forward," your only option is summers with less daylight after work and school hours. 

As a workaround, McBride wants to move Delaware into Atlantic Time, to the east, which is an hour ahead, then abolish Standard Time. That would achieve the same effect as moving to full-year Daylight Saving Time: No clock change, but with maximum daylight in the evening hours year-round. 

The only downside is you'd be waking up in the dark for most of winter.

News Journal Engagement Editor Matthew Albright

Surprisingly, this isn't just some scheme McBride cooked up. It's already under consideration in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and South Carolina.

One important caveat: McBride's legislation would only take effect if Pennsylvania, Maryland and New Jersey all agreed to make the change as well. He does not want to make life miserable for the many people who commute between the four states.

Many states are trying to get around the current federal rules on Daylight Savings Time. Some, like California, have taken a simpler approach, simply asked Congress to change the law so they can stay in Daylight Saving Time year-round.

But our dysfunctional Congress doesn't seem in any hurry to comply. And apparently time zones can be changed by regulation, not legislation, so plans like McBride's are easier to implement.

Look, I dislike getting off of work after sundown as much as the next guy. But let's be honest — this is silly.

First of all, it's not likely to actually take effect. I don't think the odds are great that those three other states are all going to join the Hour-Ahead Club — we're smack-dab in the middle of Eastern Time.

If it did somehow take effect, we'd be creating all kinds of new headaches for ourselves. If the Eagles game is at 7 p.m. Pennsylvania time, would we make the rest of the country tune in at 6 p.m.? Imagine flying to Chicago and being two hours off instead of one.

An extra hour of sunshine just isn't worth it. Nor is ending the small annoyance of changing clocks, which is decreasingly aggravating as more internet-connected timekeepers automatically adjust. 

McBride argues this is a public health issue, and there's an element of truth to that.

Steve Kay, the director of the University of Southern California's Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience told USC News that data clearly show an increase in traffic accidents and heart attacks. It turns out that disrupting our "circadian rhythms" — our internal sleep clocks — can increase the risk of all kinds of health effects.

Here's the highly technical way Kay describes rolling time backward or forward: "It really messes people up."

But staying in Daylight Saving Time isn't necessarily better for your health. Kay points out that there is also evidence that waking up in darkness has negative health affects, which we'd be doing for much of winter.

At some point we have to accept that the human body just isn't built for the modern work life. 

It seems clear to me that McBride and legislators in other states considering this scheme don't really want their own time zone. They're just trying to urge Congress to change the law so they can make their own decisions.

But unless the whole country adopts permanent Daylight Saving Time, we could have an even more confusing system — some states keeping the current system, others on Standard Time Year Round, and still others on Daylight Saving Time year round.

Me? I say we ask the feds to put the whole country in the daylight. But if they ignore us, let's just keep changing the dang clocks and move on with our lives.