This weekend, we will once again go through the act of changing our clocks ahead, or many of our clocks will change for us, and we will enter into what is known as daylight saving time.
And it is now more than seven years since 60% of California voters approved a change to permanent daylight saving time, used in the summer, versus standard time, used in the winter.
Proposition 7, was passed by 60% of California voters in what I would call a solid victory. Around 7 million people voted for the change in November 2018.
So why the delay in implementation? The vote was simply to allow for it to go to the state Legislature, where it would need a supermajority to pass. It would then have to be signed by the governor and approved by the federal government.
The advocate for the proposition, former Assembly Kansen Chu, had initially proposed we revert to year-round standard time, but didn’t get the support and tried it with year-round daylight saving time, with longer days in the summer.
Once approved, it got stuck in the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications. And when Chu left the Assembly, no one else wanted to carry it for him. I have no idea why, since this is a sure-fire hit of an effort. You’d get statewide fame and the appreciation from countless millions of Californians.
So it sits unattended, while we rely on President Trump who said he might be interested in changing it. Current Secretary of State Marco Rubio also worked on getting it done when he was in the U.S. Senate to help people contend with the impact of the pandemic.
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There is precedent for change, most notably, the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which moved the time change from April to March and from October to November, for energy savings purposes, but no one really knows if it does that since you have to use energy in the morning when it is dark, rather than at night. At this point, we are in standard time only four months and one week a year and this act created nary a peep. So would doing away with it.
We have progressed from the original intent of daylight saving time. It is rooted in the Standard Time Act of 1918, which was intended to save energy during World War I. Despite the idea that farmers were in support because it meant more light at night, they were reportedly against it since it meant less light in the morning. It was abandoned after the war but local jurisdictions could make their own rules, leading to a hodgepodge of times, though World War II brought it back nationwide. After the war, again it was piecemeal and confusing. That ended in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act. Individual states were allowed to not observe it as long as the entire state did not. Arizona and Michigan were the first to opt out but Michigan joined back in during the 1970s, and soon after there was an experimental year of all daylight saving time throughout the nation during the oil crisis. Hawaii has never observed the time change. Smart.
Along with California, several other states have made movements toward abolishing the time change. It may not seem like the biggest issue, but it affects us all in different ways. Disrupting sleep patterns likely has manifold impact and negligible benefits.
I only know one person who likes the time change. Most people think we should stick with daylight saving time year-round, however, I think we should stick with standard time. It’s the actual time and the shift of sunset from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the summer is just being greedy. We already get naturally longer days in the summer so why do we need that extra hour? However, I’d be in favor of either as long I didn’t have to go through another time change. Scientists have talked about the mental impact of the time change for years, and it’s a real thing. Parents have a hard time with adjusting children’s bed time as well.
I have an issue with having to change clocks, though, I think we may have an unusually high number of clocks in my household. For most people, it’s just the matter of adjustment for no justifiable reason.
It was enough for 60% of voters in California to say we should do away with it, but the state government clearly has trouble following through on the will of the people.
Perhaps one of our local members of Congress can take up the issue nationally and push it forward. They will be a hero, at least twice a year.
(4) comments
Thank you, Mr. Mays, for the background of DST and a recap of its failed journey through our government to return to a single standard. As it is now, I highly doubt we’ll see a resolution. Maybe we can convince President Trump (or President Musk, if you believe he's in charge) to sign an Executive Order and set the process in motion. Sure there will be yelling and screeching on both sides as to whether he can do it or not. But at least it’ll be in the news more often than just twice a year when time changes occur.
Thank you for your well reasoned article and I much agree.
Agreed.
"Sunshine Protection?" That is dumb. There is the same amount of sunlight whether on DST or standard. If you want to get up an hour early go right ahead, But don't force everybody else to do it. This is tyranny.
DST exists because some industries want more daylight after working hours so they can make more money with people shopping or whatever. Or maybe it is to make people less healthy so they can be better controlled.
Studies have definitely shown DST is unhealthy and not just because of the time change. It is hell for insomniacs- which effects a large portion of the public. The later hour of sunlight tends to make you want to stay up later. Then you have to get up earlier the next morning. Many persons are not a “morning person.”
I love standard time, which is natural. In the fall, when switching to standard, it is wonderful to get the extra hour back. In the spring (brought all the way to March under war criminal GW Bush) it is a always a struggle to lose the hour to DST that can take months of adjustment - especially if you are older. Personally, I can never adjust. Even during the summer, everything seems speeded up and rushed on DST.
Please end the insanity! Get rid of DST! Make noon at 12 again!
Thank you Jon. I totally agree that we should just have full time standard time. But given that most people don’t want it, I would compromise with going back to the way it was when I was a child, when DST didn’t start until the last Sunday in April, and ended the last Sunday in October. Six on, six off. To me that’s a reasonable compromise.
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