Some of us can get really worked up about it.

Dear ------,

As you are my Representative in the House, I am writing you to request that you vote "no" to extending Daylight Savings Time throughout the year, as advocated by Senators Markey and Rubio and as recently passed by the Senate. A brief explanation as to why is given below.

First, I agree with the Senate that we should adhere to a fixed set of hours, rather than two, to measure the 24-hour cycle for two of the reasons given by advocates for a permanent Daylight Savings Time: biological and social stresses as introduced by such changes. But where I disagree is in settling upon Daylight Savings Time as the permanent daily time cycle. Rather, I think that we should be making Standard Daylight Time, or an hour earlier, the default. Add to this the long-standing argument stressing the need for early morning daylight to send children to school during the winter months.

The reason has to do with when "solar noon" actually occurs during the day, solar noon being the moment when the sun is perceived as being highest in the sky (or "high noon") during the day. Living in our Congressional district, which is currently under Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), solar noon occurred at 12:52 p.m. today (March 15,2022), or 52 minutes later than what we called noon. Had we been under Eastern Standard Time (EST), which we were just last week, solar noon would have occurred at 11:52 a.m., or only 8 minutes earlier. Such a change is significant as our biology, as well as the rest of animal and plant life, is oriented towards the rising and setting of the sun each day, with solar noon (rather than an arbitrary human construct) occurring in between. Moving noon further away from this, as is the case in introducing Daylight Savings Time, represents a form of natural destabilization.

As our Congressional district is towards the east of the Eastern Time region, let us look at how Daylight Savings Time affects a City towards the west of the Eastern Time region: Indianapolis, Indiana, for example. There, solar noon occurred at [1:53 p.m.] today, or [1 hr. and 53] minutes later than what they called noon. In other words, it was still very much morning, or [10:07 a.m.] in solar time, as far the natural world was concerned. From this, one can see how further destabilizing Daylight Savings Time can be.

In closing, I note that both Senators Markey and Rubio represent States on the East Coast of the United States. Perhaps it would also be worthwhile to listen to the views of your colleagues in the House who represent the western parts of the respective Time Zones who would be affected by such a change to have a better appreciation of the issues at stake.

Thank you for allowing me to air my concerns here. Again, I urge you to vote "no" to Daylight Savings Time throughout the year as approved by the Senate. In its place, I think we should be pushing for Standard Daylight Time throughout the year.

Sincerely yours,

[brontosaurus]