Last weekend, several countries in Europe, including Portugal, switched to daylight saving time and put their clocks forward one hour. However, Greenland decided that this change would be permanent, and as of now, it is only three hours apart from Copenhagen and most other European countries, instead of the four it recorded.
This decision was approved by the Greenland parliament, Inatsisartut, on November 24 last year. The parties justify this measure with the access of citizens to one more hour of daylight and more time to do business with Europe and other places.
Quoted by Associated PressThe local government tourism office said that “the time zone change marks an exciting new beginning, an equal connection to North America and Europe, and an opportunity to slow down in a fast-paced world.”
Despite geographically belonging to the North American continent, Greenland is Danish territory and is part of Europe. This island has about 56,000 inhabitants, mostly indigenous people who live mostly on the west coast in small towns and villages or in remote coastal areas.
Europe and the United States of America have also been debating whether or not to keep double time. The United States Senate passed a bill to permanently change daylight saving time. However, in the House of Representatives several deputies expressed great doubts regarding the proposal. Thus, the debate ended up interrupted at the end of last year and was definitively suspended with the end of the 117th Congress.
In Brazil, former President Jair Bolsonaro even ended summer time, in force since 1931, justifying its lack of efficiency in energy savings. Now the current president, Lula da Silva, is considering the return of this schedule.
Source: TSF
