The days are about to get shorter and the nights will last a little bit longer, not only because we're approaching the winter solstice but also because daylight saving time is nearly back in effect.
Starting this weekend, most Americans will roll their clocks back an hour, but it does not come without controversy. For years now, there have been arguments about whether or not daylight saving time actually served any good. Some say yes while others have noted the negative impacts of the time change on humans.
"There's really no reason we should continue to do this back and forth," Erin Flynn-Evans, a consultant to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine's Public Safety Committee told USA Today last year. "The negative health consequences and the negative effect on multivehicular crashes in the spring are just not worth it."
How Did We Get Here?
Daylight saving time was enacted as a temporary wartime measure in the U.S. in 1918 during World War I. Two years earlier Germany tried the same measure to conserve energy by using more sunlight for battle during the day.
Once the war ended in 1918, states were left to make their own decisions on the time change. It wasn't until 1966 that it became federal law under the Uniform Time Act. Hawaii, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the Virgin Islands, and most of Arizona are among U.S. states and territories that do not observe the time change.
A common myth is that daylight saving time was started to give farmers an edge on industry. In fact, the agricultural industry heavily opposed the plan that was initiated in 1918. The time change, along with labor laws, meant that dew hadn't evaporated when it was time for farmhands to get to work and time was wasted waiting for the right conditions each day.
Daylight Saving Time in Congress
In 2018, Senator Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) introduced the Sunshine Protection Act. In his proposal, Rubio noted some benefits of maintaining daylight saving time for the entire year, including a reduction in childhood obesity and increased physical fitness by maximizing sunlight, a boost to the agricultural industry, and a reduction in risk for cardiac issues.
In 2022, the bill passed the Senate with bipartisan support but the House of Representatives has not taken it up. Rubio told Cheddar News there's no need for the bill to be held up any longer.
"This isn't a partisan or regional issue, it is a common sense issue. States all around the country are passing laws to make DST permanent, but Washington DC needs to act. I don't know why the House refuses to pass this bill — it seems like they are rarely in session –but I will keep pushing to make this a reality," he said in a statement.
