It’s Time To End Twice Per Year Clock Changes
All over the United States there’s an effort to end changing our clocks twice per year.
From August 2019:
So far this year, at least 36 states have introduced legislation to end or study the practice, more than any year before. Some bills call for all-year standard time, but most endorse permanent daylight saving time — which would result in an extra hour of evening sunlight for more of the year in exchange for a delayed sunrise in the winter.
The issue has played out on social media with the hashtags #DitchTheSwitch and #LockTheClock, and it has pitted recreational businesses that would benefit from longer days, like golf courses, against groups that worry about the danger of darker mornings, such as parent-teacher associations. (NBC News)
Eight months of the year, first Sunday in March through first Sunday in November, we’re in Daylight Saving Time (DST)— an hour ahead of standard time.
The federal government gives states two options:
- Change clocks twice per year
- Observe Standard Time all year.
Observing Daylight Saving Time all year isn’t an option.
States Arizona & Hawaii have chosen #2 — to observe Standard Time all year.
The recent non-scientific Sunday Poll wasn’t very popular, but that’s ok.
Q: Agree or disagree: The federal government shouldn’t let states opt out of 2x per year Daylight Saving Time (DST) clock changes.
- Strongly agree: 4 [22.22%]
- Agree: 3 [16.67%]
- Somewhat agree: 1 [5.56%]
- Neither agree or disagree: 0 [0%]
- Somewhat disagree: 1 [5.56%]
- Disagree: 5 [27.78%]
- Strongly disagree: 4 [22.22%]
- Unsure/No Answer: 0 [0%]
I’m personally in favor of ending the twice per year clock changes. I think I’d tend to favor DST all year over 12 months of Standard Time.
However, it’s not just one or the other. Some suggest DST, for 8 or 12 months, is bad.
Daylight saving time (DST) eliminates bright morning light that’s crucial to synchronizing your biologic clock, possibly putting people at increased risk of heart attack, stroke and other harmful effects of sleep deprivation, said Dr. Beth Ann Malow, director of the Sleep Disorders Division at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn. (WebMD)
Maybe it’s good that DST all year isn’t an option?
— Steve Patterson