“The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t!” said President-elect Donald Trump in a Friday Truth Social post.
Currently, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is observed in the U.S. from March through November. In the spring, clocks move ahead one hour at 2 a.m. and in the fall they are turned back to Standard Time at 2 a.m. This has the effect of creating another hour of daylight in the evening when days get shorter.
It was formally implemented in 1918 and is still observed in most parts of the country. However, it is not observed in Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and most of the state of Arizona, with the exception of the Navajo Indian Reservation.
In his Truth Social post, Trump explained that “Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”
Research shows that he’s right.
“DST was first implemented during World War I as an energy saving policy,” said an October article from UConn Today. “However, recent studies have found that people actually consume more energy during DST, because with more daylight, people run air conditioners for longer, even if their lights aren’t on for as long.”
This year, Audacy station KNX Newsradio also reported that DST can have a negative impact on children. Dr. Kate Williamson, a pediatrician at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) spoke to Nataly Tavidian about the issue.
“I think every year, we forget how hard it can be,” said Williamson.
Last year, Audacy reported that sleep pattern disruptions can trigger cluster headaches in people prone to migraines. It also reported on efforts in Congress to abolish DST. After Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) – who is expected to be Trump’s secretary of state – proposed a bill that would permanently abolish the spring forward/fall back requirement, it passed unanimously in the Senate. However, it failed in the House.
That bill aimed to make DST permanent, however, while researchers such as Elizabeth Klerman from Harvard Medical School and Shinsuke Tanaka, assistant professor and director of graduate studies in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at the University of Connecticut, point to Standard Time as a better model.
Going forward, Trump’s plan to have Republicans trash DST could work out. In addition to securing the White House for the next four years, the party will also have majorities in the House and the Senate starting in 2025.