There are 86,410 seconds in a day. 1,440 minutes. The most daylight in Washington, D.C.emerges in June, stretching 14 hours and 57 minutes. The shortest is near the winter solstice, clocking in at a scant nine hours and 29 minutes.Sunrise light hits the U.S.
Capitol dome. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)Congress can’t change any of that.But it can alter how we perceive it.Lawmakers routinely fork over to public tax cuts, economic stimulus and the elimination of a cumbersome law or policy. Awarding something to the voters is part of the Congressional DNA.So even though time is finite, lawmakers are again trying to give people something: more daylight.The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the Sunshine Protection Act this week, 308-117. HOUSE PASSES SUNSHINE PROTECTION ACT TO MAKE DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME PERMANENTNo.
Our sun wasn’t in jeopardy of going supernova — although it is about halfway through its 10 billion year lifespan.Lawmakers weren’t safeguarding it.
But they wanted you to think they were.The Sunshine Protection Act permanently shifts the U.S.onto Daylight Saving Time.
That’s a congressionally contrived temporal statute.In other words, with adoption of the bill, we will never shift back to Standard Time again. No more "springing forward" or "falling back."We’re on Daylight Saving Time now.And we are here to stay if this becomes law."Polling shows that two-thirds of Americans want to unlock the clock.
My bill is simply a solution to make Daylight Saving Time permanent," said Rep.Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), one of the chief sponsors of the legislation.
"Allowing an extra hour of sunlight in the evening gives families more time for outside sports activities and school."An extra hour of sunlight? Really?In other words, it’s really the same amount of light – or lack thereof – at 7 p.m.under Daylight Saving Time that we could experience at 6 p.m.
under Standard Time.But Congress is in the giving business."W...