![]() ![]() The bill had a hearing Thursday before the House Executive Departments and Administration Committee, which is expected to vote on it next week.Įven if the bill passes, shifting time zones requires federal approval. McGuire said this is at least the third time the Legislature has considered shifting time zones, but the first in which following Massachusetts is required, so that New Hampshire wouldn’t end up in a different time zone than the Boston area. It could also do away with the need for shifting into and out of daylight saving time, because we’d be more in sync with the sun.Įmswiler’s piece led the Massachusetts legislature to create a study, which in turn prompted interest in neighboring states, including Rhode Island and Connecticut. Shifting to Atlantic time would move sunset about an hour later, and Emswiler argues the extra daylight during working hours would help people’s mental and physical health. ![]() That means our clocks are shifted relatively far away from the patterns of daylight, as is obvious when the sun sets as early as 4:11 p.m., as it did on Christmas Day. The idea of New England adopting Atlantic standard time has been floated more than once, and drew attention most recently in a 2014 Boston Globe opinion column by health advocate Tom Emswiler.Įmswiler argued that Eastern Standard Time isn’t suitable for New England because we’re on the eastern edge of the time zone, which is centered on 75 degrees west longitude, roughly the location of Philadelphia. I looked into it and thought, ‘Oh, that’s interesting!’ ” McGuire said. “The constituent said changing time zones is a nuisance, and I understand Massachusetts is looking into it. She co-sponsored the bill with Keith Murphy, a Bedford Republican, who received a similar request independently from one of his constituents. “This was a constituent request,” said Carol McGuire, a Republican from Epsom. New Hampshire would only make the temporal move if Massachusetts does it first. The bill would shift New Hampshire away from the time zone used by New York City and Washington, D.C., to the one used by the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and would do away with the twice-a-year clock switcheroo of daylight saving time. ![]() Many proposed laws seek to move New Hampshire forward, but there’s one that wants to move us – or at least our clocks – sideways into the Atlantic time zone. ![]()
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