On Nov. 6 at 2 a.m. daylight saving time will end for most of the United States. All those clocks we moved ahead on March 13th must now be turned back an hour.
If your internal clock is like mine, our bodies struggle to adjust for days after each time change. But there’s an outside possibility this might be the last time we have to turn the clocks back.
Last March, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would permanently keep the country in daylight saving time and end the biannual clock-turning.
But it’s not a done deal until the House votes on the bill. It is the first time in 40 years a bill to end daylight savings time has gotten this far.
Daylight saving time has been a polarizing topic since President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Uniform Time Act in 1966 declaring six months with daylight savings time and six months without, Individual states could opt in or out.
Hawaii and most of Arizona do not observe daylight savings time. United States territories, including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, don’t observe daylight savings time either.
Whether to switch permanently to DST or revert to standard time is a tough call. Polls show most favorite a permanent switch.
A March 2022 Monmouth University poll found that 44% support a permanent move to daylight saving time, while 13% of poll respondents support switching permanently to standard time.
In a YouGov survey, 59 percent of adults surveyed said they would like to see daylight saving time made permanent, compared to 19 percent who would not.
Most health experts agree that settling into daylight saving time or standard time is better than changing the clocks twice a year.
A switch is favored. The question is which time to switch to, DST or regular standard time.
Arguments for the DST time change being permanent:
- According to the United States Department of Transportation, daylight savings time saves energy because people use fewer lights in their homes and spend more time outdoors.
- Statistics show Americans are more likely to go shopping after work if it is still light outside, which in turn helps businesses.
Arguments for abandoning DST and reverting to standard time:
- The switch messes with your body’s circadian rhythms causing detrimental effects on your physical and mental health.
- Statistics confirm a nearly 25% increase in traffic accidents, emergency room visits, suicide attempts, and patients suffering from depression on the day the changes take place.
Me, I say leave the clocks alone and let the sun do its thing. What do you say?
It made me smile. I forget how much it means to students to be recognized.
