Sunshine Protection Act Could Mean Lighter Evenings, Darker Mornings

Generally speaking, I think most of us are happy when Daylight Saving Time begins each year in Colorado, for a variety of reasons.

Later sunsets mean longer days, sure. But I think the biggest highlight, truthfully, is it means that summer is coming and a cold winter is nearly over. Perhaps that's why we look at it so fondly.

On the other side of the coin, when Daylight Saving Time ends, we're kind of depressed about it because it means winter is coming. And of course it means that for a few weeks at least, it's going to be dark when we leave work. Nobody loves that.

You might have heard that this week, the US Congress took a pretty significant step forward toward making Daylight Saving Time a permanent thing, with the House of Representatives passing the "Sunshine Protection Act," which would adopt Daylight Saving Time year round.

READ MORE: What Standard Time is Like in the State of Colorado

The bill now goes to the Senate and if passed there, would then be signed by the president and go into effect December 1.

So how would that impact Colorado?

For starters the earliest sunset we'd see all year would be roughly 5:30 PM, in early December. Currently that time of year the sun sets before 5:00, leaving many to drive home from work in the dark.

The real change - and effect - of making DST permanent would come with much later sunrises. Between late November and early March - typically when we are on Standard Time now - sunrise wouldn't happen until after 8 AM each day, leaving people heading TO work in the dark, and worse, kids walking to bus stops in the dark.

That's the big tradeoff to be discussed and ultimately voted on by the Senate in the coming months.