Northeast States Considering Switch To Atlantic Standard Time

Don’t forget, this weekend we “spring ahead” and return to daylight saving time. It's happening Saturday night, so make sure to set those clocks ahead one hour.

It's not exactly my favorite night of the year. Anytime you lose an hour of sleep, it's a pretty serious thing in my world. But there is one significant benefit. Starting Sunday, it will be getting darker an hour later, so that means more sunshine. The downside is that it's back to darkness early in the morning. If lawmakers get their way, we may soon be staying on daylight savings time year round.

The yearly debate on whether or not we should just stay on daylight savings time has taken a slightly different twist this year. According to ctpost.com, a bill proposed by some Connecticut and New England state legislators has become part of a regional push to eliminate the northeast from being on Eastern Standard Time and switch the entire region to Atlantic Standard Time which would stay in effect all year long.

If the bill is successful and all states vote in favor of it, we would then stay on Atlantic Standard Time year round. That means we would continue with Daylight Savings Time for 12 months out of the year instead of the almost 8 months that we currently stay on it.

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The stipulation of the bill which is being proposed in other Northeast states as well, would be that all states would have to pass the bill or no state would be allowed to change. If all states agreed, then it would have to get final approval and pass in the House and Senate.

Contrary to some of the more popular myths about why we set the clocks ahead, Daylight Savings Time actually first started during World War One as a way to save money by taking advantage of the extra daylight. During World War Two, President Franklin D. Roosevelt used an executive order to keep the country on Daylight Savings Time for the entire year, which was just like being on Atlantic Time.

There has also been a number of health study conducted based on setting the clocks back and ahead. The study found increases in car accidents and heart attacks in the week following both time changes. It also found more cases of mental health issues like depression.

If the bill would pass, don't count on that just yet, the states that would be affected would be New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine.

Also don't forget, local Fire Departments recommend that when you're setting your clocks ahead, make sure you check the batteries in the smoke alarms in your home.