After the Senate voted overwhelmingly to make daylight saving time permanent beginning in 2023, biannual clock changes may soon be a thing of the past in the United States. The clocks would not “fall back” in November 2023 if the bill is passed. Instead of only eight months a year, the US would be able to enjoy daylight saving time all year.
The Sunshine Protection Act still has to be enacted by the House of Representatives, which has had a committee hearing on the matter, before it can be signed by Vice President Joe Biden. It’s unknown how these following stages will play out, but it’s evident that this measure is gaining traction. Except for the states of Arizona and Hawaii, as well as the US territory of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands, the majority of the United States observes daylight saving time (DST). In recent years, a number of state legislatures have established year-round daylight saving time, but a change in federal law is necessary, which this bill aims to accomplish.
Why do so many states and nations continue to adhere to the seasonal “spring forward, fall back” clock tradition? Well, not many people are aware of it any longer. “On the weekend before last, we all went through the biannual ritual of changing the clocks back and forth, with all the chaos that entails. After a while, one needs to question themself, “Why do we keep doing it?” “What are we doing here?” In a statement, Senator Marco Rubio, one of the bill’s sponsors, stated.
“Across the country, the campaign to eliminate the outmoded practice of clock changing is gaining traction,” he previously stated. Early in the twentieth century, daylight saving time was implemented as an ostensibly energy-saving strategy, lowering the demand for lights on winter mornings and summer nights. In the spring and summer, it also provided people “longer” evenings. These are, arguably, the periods when daylight is most useful to people: you can enjoy long summer nights while the sun is out, and it’s not quite as dark when you get up in the winter.
However, “falling back” in the autumn may seem paradoxical, and many people prefer to preserve daylight saving time all year. While the existing system allows for pleasant and lengthy summer nights, it also means that winter evenings become darker much sooner.
A large amount of scientific research points to the dangers that these gloomy winter hours may pose. According to studies, turning the clocks back in the fall may increase the incidence of automobile accidents since many motorists’ travels home will be significantly darker. According to research, turning back the clocks in the fall may exacerbate the symptoms of seasonal depression in certain people. These longer, darker evenings have been linked to an increase in crime when the clocks “fall back” in November. “If you look at how we live in this nation, you’d like to be able to spend more time outside in the evenings.”
“Not just to enjoy the outdoors, but also to make athletic and outdoor activities available to people at a time when, really, we’re losing an hour, an hour and a half in certain areas of the nation due to [the time change],” Rubio continued. “I’m expecting that this will move to the House of Representatives after today and that they will act promptly on it.” Other regions of the world have expressed interest in abandoning seasonal time adjustments as well. Europe has experimented with the notion of getting rid of it. After a poll of 4.8 million Europeans revealed majority support for ending Daylight Saving Time, the European Parliament agreed to remove it in 2018. The law was supposed to go into force in 2021, however owing to COVID-19, it was put back.
