Stop trying to force yearlong daylight saving time on Georgians
Editor’s note: The issue of changing Georgia’s time zone and keeping the Peach State in permanent daylight saving time has been a real talker for AJC readers.
The Georgia Senate recently passed a bill that would have Georgia’s governor ask the U.S. Department of Transportation to move the state from Eastern Time to Atlantic Standard Time and avoid “falling back” in autumn. It’s unclear if the House will pass it before the end of the session Thursday known as “Sine Die.”
AJC reader John Duke of Historic College Park sent two letters on the issue responding to recent opinion column writers:
- Georgia Senate time zone change vote is a blatant act of bipartisan stupidity,” by AJC Contributor Erick Erickson.
- Time to lock the clock in Ga. Move from Eastern to Atlantic Standard zone,” by former state Rep. Wes Cantrell
On Erick Erickson’s essay:
If you want to stop changing your clocks twice a year for the rest of your life, Erick Erickson is correct when he says, “If we stayed on standard time all year, we would need no approval from anyone.”
After all, when the 24 standard time zones around the globe were selected at the International Prime Meridian Conference in 1884, what do they know? That our place in the line between Central and Atlantic fit the eastern standard slot correctly. And that we are all in this together.
You may not agree when public health officials say moving forward in the spring creates havoc and some early deaths. But there would be no health study to be had in the first place if we stopped this nonsense.
- John Duke
On Wes Cantrell’s essay
Wes Cantrell is living inside his own head. When he says, “It’s … common sense” to move to permanent daylight saving time through gimmicks, he is delusional.
Ask any public health official. They will tell you that standard time was put in place for a reason by a practical international body when the 24 global time zones were selected. It aligns with our biological clock and the natural variations of the seasons.
- John Duke
Mr. Duke ended both letters this way:
Moving clocks forward just forces everyone to be at that 8 o’clock meeting on Monday morning an hour early. In a parallel universe where standard times were upheld, your watch would say 7 a.m.
So, if you want an extra hour of daylight at the end of the day, change your own schedule or lobby your organization to start the day earlier during the summer and stop forcing non-standard time on everyone else!
Agree or disagree? Send your letter to the editor of 250 words or fewer to letters@ajc.com.
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