State should ban ‘daylight saving’

As the Legislature reconvenes, I urge our legislators to unanimously pass a bill abolishing daylight saving time. The health and safety components have been well argued, the inconvenience of changing the clocks twice a year has been well-experienced, and the time to stop “messing with the clocks” has come.

Keep it simple. Remember that we are talking only of a number on a clock. Contrary to some beliefs, DST does not increase the amount of sunlight in any given 24-hour period.

When other states around us begin to abolish DST, as they will, we want to be in a standard position, simple and predictable.

This is an opportunity for the Washington Legislature to show that it can work together and make a decision in a timely manner for the good of the people. This should be an easy decision, with no need for contentious arguments, as it doesn’t take away from any other program or require raising taxes. If there is an argument about having a predictable time to change the batteries on our smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors, there is an easy solution: Have one of the Seahawks tell the public over the television to change their batteries, and it will happen.

Elizabeth Thoreson

Snohomish