Daylight savings time has long been a yearly practice in the U.S. Observed by setting one’s clock backwards one hour in November and setting it forward in March, the purpose of daylight savings is fairly straightforward: to conserve and maximize the efficiency of energy usage. However, though the event is meant to save energy, it can also have negative consequences, such as losses in both hours of sleep and time spent awake. As such, the U.S. government is working towards passing the Sunshine Protection Act, which will permanently keep the nation in daylight savings time. Though the bill passed almost unanimously in the Senate, the House of Representatives has yet to determine when it will hear and vote on the bill, before it is sent to President Joe Biden.

Recognition of daylight savings in the U.S. became official with the Uniform Time Act of 1966. Though previous pieces of legislation had suggested implementation of a daylight savings system, this particular Act simplified the process and made observation of the event official. The Act split the U.S. into four separate time zones, which we know today as the Pacific, Mountain, Central, and Eastern time zones. The Act also gave states the choice to exempt themselves from observation of daylight savings, which Arizona and Hawaii have chosen to do. However, the idea of observing daylight savings dates back even further, with U.S. railroad corporations in the late 19th century using the zone system and implementing it in terminals across the country. Daylight savings was also observed during World War I as a means to conserve resources and extend the working day. 

Today, the relevance of daylight savings has come into question, as some Americans have come to view the biannual practice of changing clocks as “antiquated,” in the words of Florida House Representative Vern Buchannan. This sentiment received almost unanimous bipartisan support in the Senate. One of the biggest effects of daylight savings time changes is a disruption in sleep schedule, which has connections to heart attacks, increased car accidents and exaggerated effects of depression, according to a study by the National Institute of Health. Despite this, some arguments counter the claim that daylight savings is an outdated and unnecessary practice. The Department of Transportation states that daylight savings helps reduce crime rates due to the extended amount of time that law enforcement spends on the streets and the generally lower possibilities of crimes being committed in broad daylight as opposed to night time.

The practice of daylight savings was created in a different era for different purposes than it holds now. Arguments both in support of and against its permanent implementation hold merit as to why the event can have positive and negative effects. However, more and more of the public’s opinion has shifted towards ending the time change, and the Sunshine Protection Act, if it passes, will be a symbol of the government listening to the public’s wants and needs.

Graphic courtesy of PXHERE.COM