When Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday, will it be the last time that Americans turn their clocks back in the fall?
Mexico recently moved to end the practice there, and a bill was passed by the U.S. Senate this March to stop changing the clocks twice a year. What are the chances it could actually happen?
What is Daylight Saving Time?
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the U.S. had daylight saving time as early as 1918, and its current federal policy was enacted in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act.
Per Scientific American, founding father Benjamin Franklin is credited with conceiving the idea of “daylight saving” as a way to conserve candles. However, the outlet noted that the U.S. first instituted it as a way to preserve resources for World War I.
Over more than a century, start and end dates of daylight saving have changed and it was enacted yet again as part of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Currently, the practice consists of moving clocks “ahead” one hour at 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March (that’s when we lose sleep) and moving them “back” one hour on the first Sunday in November (that’s when we gain an hour).
States are able to opt out of Daylight Saving Time, but nearly all still follow the practice, expect for Hawaii and Arizona. American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe daylight saving.
According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 29 states introduced legislation between 2015 and 2019t to stop changing the clocks.
“In May 2019, for example, Tennessee and Washington’s governors signed bills to extend DST year-round,” said the bureau. “Several states in New England made similar proposals with one additional condition: they will only change to year-round DST if their neighboring states do the same, thereby avoiding the economic and transportation repercussions of neighboring states having different local times.”
According to the bureau, the Department of Transportation ultimately has authority to change daylight saving.
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Why do some want to discontinue the practice?
A Monmouth University poll conducted earlier this year found that 61% of Americans want to stop changing their clocks twice a year. People have also posted on social media about why the loathe the time change.
“The policy debate has many angles,” the National Conference for State Legislatures said.
Although daylight saving was originally enacted as a way to save energy some studies have called into question the degree of energy saving.
“Other studies have shown negative impacts on people’s health and circadian rhythms because of time changes as well as a higher number of car crashes and workplace injuries in the days after a time change,” said the conference. A 2016 study published in the American Economic Journal indicated that the transition into daylight saving caused more than 30 car crash deaths from 2002 to 2011 at a total cost of $275 million annually.
While the Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 – which would end the practice – it has stalled in the House. Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said she supports the measure but that it is not a priority for her caucus, according to CNN.
“If passed by the House and signed by the president, the bill would move forward by one hour what is currently considered standard time by the federal government, beginning in November 2023,” said the National Conference of State Legislatures. Since it also repeals the section of federal law that changes standard time to daylight time from March to November, states would be forced to choose to operate either on standard or daylight year-round.
“The bill’s fate in the House is uncertain though matching legislation has been introduced and the House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing on the issue in early March,” said the conference.
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