I'm all for not changing the clocks, but I think they made the wrong call in which to keep. I live in an area with no street lights. With the time change, my kids walk to the (far) bus stop in pitch blackness for a few weeks right before and right after we change the clocks. I hate that, but one of the things that makes it tolerable is that during those stretches we tend not to have ice and snow yet. Now ask me how I feel about my kids spending most of their school year walking to the bus in the darkness, hours before sunrise while roads are icy and the sidewalks are too snowy or icy to use so they have to walk in the street for stretches...
I've also read some articles by sleep experts saying that as bad as the time change is for us, the move to permanent DST would be even worse. Apparently it leads to a mismatch between our circadian rhythms--which are more closely linked to daylight and darkness--and our daily schedules. They predict more sleep problems and other illnesses if we adopt permanent DST instead of permanent Standard Time.
With all the gridlock our government has been experiencing for years, I'm baffled that THIS is what the Senate chose to pass unanimously with no substantial discussion first!
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