Daylight Saving Time (DST) — the business where we “spring forward” the clocks by an hour in early March, then “fall back” an hour into Standard Time in November — was adopted in the US during World Wars I and II as an energy-conserving measure, although modern-day studies show the energy conserved is negligible. Even though DST was dropped between the wars, for some reason it stuck after WWII… and Americans have been hating it ever since! Pick a reason: it disrupts the delicate sleep cycle, it’s a hassle changing all the clocks, it’s a bitch for parents with young children, it’s too dark out when I wake up, it’s too dark out when I leave work! While we may luxuriate in that extra hour of sleep in November, the sense of injustice when we lose it come March is profound.
So a bipartisan effort to eliminate the twice-yearly clock changes has been making the rounds in Congress for years, mostly moving back and forth, much like the hour of time at issue. The Sunshine Protection Act (let’s call it SPA!) was passed unanimously by the Senate in 2022, but then votes were split on which time to make permanent: Saving or Standard. Cut to last week, when SPA was folded into another bill and passed 48-1 by a House committee. Unfortunately, you-know-who has taken up the cause, so he’s now a part of the story:
“Big Vote today (48-1!) in the Energy and Commerce Committee on a Bill including The Sunshine Protection Act, which will be making Daylight Saving Time Permanent! This is so important in that Hundreds of Millions of Dollars are spent every year by people, Cities, and States, being forced to change their Clocks. Many of these Clocks are located in Towers, and the cost of renting, or using, Heavy Equipment to do this twice a year is prohibitive!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“It’s time that people can stop worrying about the ‘Clock,’ not to mention all of the work and money that is spent on this ridiculous, twice yearly production. It will also be a very nice WIN for the Republican Party. Take it! We are going with the far more popular alternative, Saving Daylight, which gives you a longer, brighter Day — And who can be against that — This is an easy one!”
…“The Sunshine Protection Act was included as a provision within an Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute (AINS) to the Motor Vehicle Modernization Act, which was marked up and sent to the House floor by the House Energy and Commerce Committee today, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., said Thursday.
Trump has repeatedly criticized changing clocks, but admitted in 2024 that agreement on which time to accept is difficult because “it’s a 50-50 issue.”
Some states don’t change their clocks at all: Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation), Hawaii, and the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands do not observe Daylight Saving Time. They observe Standard Time year-round, while other states (including New York) spend half the year in Standard Time and the other half in DST.
The Sunshine Protection Act would make Daylight Saving Time permanent. It would not require states currently observing Standard Time to change to DST.
Daylight Saving Time was first established during World War I to conserve fuel for war industries. The law was repealed after WWI ended, but was re-established by Congress during World War II due to energy consumption and became U.S. law in 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act, establishing uniform start and end times within standard time zones. The policy, regulated by the Department of Transportation, aims to save energy, reduce traffic fatalities, and reduce crime.
Daylight Saving Time was kept after World War II because Americans were believed to use less energy by extending summer daylight into the evening. However, a 2008 Department of Energy study found that DST reduces annual energy use by just 0.03 percent, and another study by the University of California-Santa Barbara found DST might even increase energy consumption.
Some random questions/observations, in no particular order: If DST began and purportedly continued as an energy-saving measure, then why did it get bounced to the Department of Transportation’s purview, when surely the Dept of Energy was more appropriate? Transportation just sounds to me like they’re sending this one hour back and forth on an Amtrak train. Next, if SPA makes DST permanent, yet doesn’t require states in Standard Time to revert… how does that work? Also, this article doesn’t cover it, but it should be noted that most health experts strongly advocate for permanent Standard Time, not Daylight Saving. So, the opposite of what SPA would make law. Or as DT calls it, “Saving Daylight.” And speaking of, perhaps the most critical question is: does Trump realize that passing SPA won’t keep him from falling asleep in meetings? On camera?
PS — No, I will never NOT be Rattled by trump’s Indiscriminant AND Wanton use of capitalizations.
Photos credit: Viktoria B. on Pexels, Sarah Wüst on Unsplash