24 February 2023 — 0652 mst
Will anti-DST fanatics steal an hour of evening sunlight?
Havre Democrat Paul Tuss wants the legislature
to repeal daylight saving time in Montana
By James Conner
Democratic Rep. Paul Tuss (HD-28, Havre) introduced on 17 February a bill, HB-617, to kill daylight saving time in Montana. It’s being heard today by the house’s business and labor committee.
The bill is standard farm country mischief. And it might become law if it can be sneaked by the legislature.
Before the session started, Tuss requested a bill with a short title suggesting he wanted to extend DST year around. That indicated he wants to avoid the spring and fall resetting of clocks, a task that a noisy few find incredibly annoying.
He may also be hauling water for central Montana farmers, who in the past have been the primary instigators of attempts to repeal DST. These farmers think their cows can read clocks, are upset by the time change, and consequently produce less milk.
That grip from farmers is almost universal. I remember it from DST debates in Minnesota back in the fifties and sixties. Then, as now, the farmers were wrong.
DST does not reduce the production of dairy cows. It does not stunt the growth of children. It does not retard the growth of crops, or the output of oil and gas wells. DST may save energy. And indisputably it provides an extra hour of golden sunshine after dinner during spring, summer, and fall, a great benefit to shoppers, recreationists, and families. That’s why it’s so popular, and why previous attempts to repeal it have failed.
Getting rid of the changeovers by extending DST year around, in effect putting Montana in the central time zone, would produce in western Montana sunrises as late as 0930. That’s probably why Tuss decided it was better to revert to standard time.
Standard time, of course, is not natural time, sun time, which is defined by the moment the sun transits a place’s meridian. Natural time is a pleasant concept, but in practice it is an unpleasant system for a large geographical area. That’s why in the late 19th century the railroads, seeking to prevent accidents, persuaded the nation to adopt hour-wide time zones.
Montana: high, wide, with a handsome difference in sun time
At a width of 12° of longitude, Montana is one of two Lower 48 states almost a full time zone (15°) wide. Texas, 13° wide, is the other.
High noon (sun time, natural time, meridian transit) in Sidney near Montana’s eastern border occurs almost 48 minutes earlier in civil time than high noon in Troy near the western border, and varies from day to day according to the Equation of Time.
The times of sunrise and sunset are offset similarly. The latest sunrises occur in early January, the earliest sunsets in early December.
Spring and fall changeovers are not onerous and should not be dreaded
I use the spring and fall switchovers to reset my clocks and devices so they are as close to mean civil time as possible. I welcome that opportunity.
Do I have trouble adjusting to the difference in the location of the sun for a given hour following the changeover? No. Of course not. Because I have the smartphone application Sun Surveyor, and have the Naval Observatory software that calculates the position of the sun, moon, planets, and major stars, I always know the azimuth and altitude of the sun. And knowing where the sun’s location is the key to adjusting to the changeover.
Sometimes I get sun location information from the Date and Time website.
DST ain’t broke, so don’t try to fix it
Daylight saving time is working well in Montana. During spring, summer, and fall it provides a tremendously valuable hour of after dinner sunlight that is welcomed greatly by recreationists, shoppers, and families. Reverting to standard time would have the effect of shortening the practical day by an hour for no good reason. It would steal an hour of valuable sunlight from us.
Please use the legislature’s Have Your Say portal to let your legislators know you support DST and want to keep it just as it is. Ask them to kill HB-617, not DST’s extra hour of evening gold.