Congress Might Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent

The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.

The bill needs President Joe Biden's signature to become law, but it was introduced last week. It was unanimously approved by the Senate, which means that Americans will never have to change the nation's clocks back again and get another hour of sunlight in the winter.

This is the first time the bill has passed the Senate since it was sponsored by Marco Rubio. In a video last week before Daylight Saving Time began in the US, Marco Rubio said that it was outdated and that it was only a source of annoyance and confusion. It is dumb and there is no other way to say it.

Twenty states, including Florida, have taken steps to stick with daylight saving time year-round, but Congress needs to pass a law for those to take effect. The bill will allow states to pass their own laws if they want to keep changing their clocks twice a year; Arizona and Hawaii don't observe daylight saving time at all.

No more dark afternoons in the winter. No more losing an hour of sleep in the spring. "We want more sunshine during our most productive waking hours," said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray in a statement.

The White House didn't respond to the request for comment on whether Biden would sign the bill or not.

Daylight saving time was adopted in the US in 1918. The idea was to add extra sunlight hours in the summer to conserve energy, but some studies suggest that we are not actually saving energy, according to National Geographic.

America tried to make daylight saving time permanent before it was abandoned. Daylight saving hours were extended to the winter by the Nixon administration. A majority of Americans supported the move. The benefit of lighter evenings was lost as the winter wore on. The experiment was not renewed after the winter.

In a speech on the Senate floor, Whitehouse said that he understood that morning people would lose an hour of daylight. He said that the change will give more daylight for kids who are coming home from school to play outside and for people running errand in the early evening.

Whitehouse said he got a very strong response from his own people in favor of the bill, and he is hopeful that the House will pass it as well.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee held a hearing last week where a panel of experts unanimously supported ending the practice of changing the clock twice a year. Daylight saving time or standard time should be the permanent solution, but they disagreed on that.

Making standard time permanent would be the healthiest option according to Beth Malow. She said exposing people to more light in the morning and less in the evening reduces sleep deprivation.

When the sun is not in sync with the cycle of your daily life, waking up when it is still dark causes a problem. Malow said this increases sleep deprivation, which leads to increased health issues. Students and people who work early and can't control their hours are the most vulnerable, she said.

We need light in the morning to be alert. Malow said that kids need to be alert to go to school.

Daylight saving time is good for the economy because people are more likely to spend money later in the evening. University of Washington law professor Steve Calandrillo made a health and safety argument in favor of permanent daylight saving time.

Calandrillo told Congress that the evening rush hour is twice as deadly as the morning rush hour due to increased traffic, more children playing outside, more alcohol consumed by drivers, and an increased rush to get home. Calandrillo said that extending daylight to the evening rush hour would be a big net safety benefit. A Rutgers University study found that daylight saving time could lead to fewer traffic deaths.

Calandrillo claimed that crime would decrease due to the lighter evenings, as crime increases in the evening after it gets dark. Calandrillo proposed a solution to the effect on school children waking up and going to school in the dark: pair permanent daylight saving time with pushing back the start of school. He said it would help to drive in the morning when it is still dark.

He said that they need to push back school times for teenagers.