heres a function to convert localtime to UTC time

[itsallhype820]

function getTimeTable()
local uTime, tTime, uSec, uHours, uMin, suf
local rTab = {};
tTime = Turbine.Engine:GetLocalTime();

uTime = tTime / 86400
uTime = math.floor(uTime)
uSec = tTime % 86400
uHours = math.floor(uSec / 3600)
uSec = uSec % 3600
uMin = math.floor(uSec / 60)
uSec = uSec % 60
if(uSec >= 1)then
if(uHours >= 12 ) then
suf = 1 -- pm
else
suf = 0 -- am
end
end
rTab.hours = uHours
rTab.min = uMin
rTab.sec = uSec
rTab.suffix = suf
return rTab
end
local bTab = getTimeTable();

Turbine.Shell.WriteLine("hours- " .. bTab.hours .. " min- " .. bTab.min .. " sec-" .. bTab.sec );

to obtain EDT EST PST etc just add or subtract to the hours output