It’s Time To ‘Spring Forward’ – What To Know About The Debate Around Daylight Savings

Authored by Jacob Burg via The Epoch Times,

Americans will again change their clocks on March 9, setting them one hour ahead to observe Daylight Saving Time in a yearly cyclical pattern that experts say leads to more car accidents, heart attacks, and strokes.

Efforts are underway to stop this process. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is touting a bipartisan effort known as the “Sunshine Protection Act,” which would make Daylight Saving Time the national year-round standard.

In 2023, Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and then-Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) launched similar legislation under the same name. Rubio’s bill passed through the Senate, but Buchanan’s version stalled in the House.

Those efforts, or some version of them, may now come to fruition under the new administration.

President Donald Trump said in December 2024 that the Republican Party “will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time … [which] is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation.”

That move, unlike Congress’ efforts, would make Standard Time permanent, which is what Americans experience from November through March after setting their clocks back one hour.

While that would retain the exceedingly early winter evenings that many criticize, it would still mean an end to the time changes, which experts cite as the primary health and safety risk.

Elon Musk, who Trump tapped to helm his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), polled users on the social platform X, asking Americans if the time changes are canceled, would they prefer clocks to be set “an hour earlier,” retaining Standard Time, or “an hour later,” which would keep Daylight Saving Time year-round.

Of more than one million users polled, 58.1 percent said they’d prefer clocks to stay one hour ahead, versus 41.9 percent who said one hour behind.

While most of the nation participates in Daylight Saving Time, Hawaii and parts of Arizona opt out, according to the Transportation Department.

The U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands also do not participate.

America’s Second Attempt at Ending DST

If the Trump administration succeeds in ending the time switch, it won’t be the first time for the United States.

Daylight Saving Time began more than a century ago and was used throughout both world wars as a cost-saving measure, where adding additional daylight hours helped conserve energy.

In 1973, Congress voted to make Daylight Saving Time permanent for two years after a brief stint of permanent DST during World War II.

However, many criticized the change for the unusually late darkness in winter mornings, which is a common complaint among supporters of Standard Time.

That early-morning darkness proved fatal: Eight children in Florida were killed in traffic accidents in the weeks following the change, causing Florida Gov. Reubin Askew to ask Congress for a repeal.

Other metrics painted a more complicated picture. Pre-sunrise fatalities had increased to 20 from 18 the year prior, according to the National Safety Council.

Roger Sant, who was the assistant administrator-designate for the Federal Energy Administration, wrote a letter detailing a 1 percent energy savings after America went to Daylight Saving Time year-round, which totaled more than 20,000 tons of coal not being burned daily.

He also said afternoon accidents had decreased.

Congress eventually passed legislation repealing the experiment, returning the nation to twice-yearly clock changes.

Pros and Cons of Standard Versus Daylight Saving Time

While supporters of year-round Standard Time cite the late darkness in winter mornings as a reason to reject a full transition to Daylight Saving Time, those who wish to go back to the early 1970s experiment argue Standard Time leads to shorter days and earlier sunsets.

The transition to Daylight Saving Time each spring leads to an increase in heart attacks and strokes in the days afterward, according to a March 2024 report from the American Heart Association.

That clock switch also increases the risk of fatal traffic accidents by 6 percent, particularly in the first few days after the change, according to a 2020 study by Current Biology.

Researchers at the Sleep Foundation say twice-yearly clock changes interfere with one’s sleep-wake cycle and may disrupt the feeling of alertness in the morning and sleepiness at night, as they change the hours we are exposed to natural light.

This can lead to sleep loss and sleep debt, which is the cumulative result of getting insufficient sleep over days or weeks.

However, unlike Scott’s bipartisan effort in Congress, the researchers support year-round Standard Time, arguing that it better suits circadian rhythms and public health and safety.

Industries Split on Time Changes

The view among businesses is mixed.

The golf industry is a long proponent of Daylight Saving Time after lobbyists in the 1980s estimated that businesses in the sector could earn an additional $200 million in golf club sales and green fees each year if the United States had an extra month of Daylight Saving Time.

The additional hour allows golfers to play into dusk, providing more revenue for courses and clubs.

Michael Downing, the author of “Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time,” said in 2007 that lobbyists for candy companies had pushed to get the autumn clock change moved into November so children would have an extra hour of daylight during Halloween to collect more candy.

In 2005, Congress passed legislation extending Daylight Saving Time, so it would end on the first Sunday in November and start on the second Sunday of March.

The Air Transport Association opposed that extension, arguing that it would cost the airline industry $147 million.

Although some believe Daylight Saving Time was invented to give farmers another hour of light to work on their fields, many farmers opposed it due to having one less hour of daylight in the morning and little time to get goods to market.

Downing also suggested that more people go out when there’s additional daylight during Daylight Saving Time, leading to more driving and gasoline consumption.

“Daylight Saving increases gasoline consumption, something the petroleum industry has known since 1930,” he said.

With Trump calling for an end to the clock change, and Musk’s poll showing a lean towards a permanent adoption of Daylight Saving Time, it’s not yet clear what path the administration will take if Republicans finally decide to stop the twice-yearly transition.