Save Time: Eliminate Twice a Year Time Changes

Let’s save time by not changing our clocks twice a year. It takes time to change clocks forward one hour in the spring and backward one hour in the autumn. It’s also confusing and can result in persons being early or late for appointments due to not making the change correctly.

Numerous persons in recent years have been seeking to end the practice of changing the time twice a year. A March 2019 National Geographic piece[1] discusses some of these efforts.

In my home state of Kentucky, on Monday, July 2, 2019, two Kentucky state representatives prefiled a bill to establish Daylight Saving Time year round in Kentucky if the federal government allows it, according several news sources, including  the Louisville Courier-Journal[2] and WLKY[3].

Over four years later in November 2023, debate over eliminating the twice a year time changes continues in Kentucky and elsewhere across the country. Studies seem to indicate that staying on standard time all year round would be best for our health as humans, as mentioned in a March 11, 2023, NPR article citing support for this from "many doctors and scientists." {4] Other media sources also report this.

Daylight Saving Time Exemptions, Benefits, and Current Law

A Transportation.gov piece[5] notes that The Uniform Time Act allows states to exempt themselves from Daylight Saving Time and stay on Standard Time all year round. The article also lists supposed benefits of Daylight Saving Time.

Some believe that under Daylight Saving Time certain times of the year people will be awake and active more during daylight hours, and not out and about as much during hours of darkness, which improves safety and reduces energy consumption due to using artificial lights. There is some debate on how effective that it is, but it apparently helps some. However, I feel that any benefits are more than offset by the disadvantages of adjusting clocks and sleep schedules twice a year, as well as the health risks mentioned earlier.

While states can exempt themselves from Daylight Saving Time, they cannot exempt themselves from Standard Time without a change in federal law. In other words, a state can stay all year round on the “slow” time of early November to midMarch via changing state laws. But, if a state wants to stay on the “fast” time of midMarch to early November all year round, it would require Congressional approval, or a Supreme Court ruling that the law was invalid.

I support going to Standard Time all year long. Changing to this can happen at a state level, and seems to be better for our health, as mentioned earlier. But, rather than states have an assortment of laws that would be confusing to persons, I support a law being passed by Congress to make Standard Time permanent nationwide.  

Time change is regulated by The Uniform Time Act of 1966,[6] which was modified in the 1980s and then again by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [7] which took effect in 2007 and sets the current dates for the time change.

Under current United States law most places in the country change their time ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. (changing the time to 3:00 a.m.) on the second Sunday in March. Then, on the first Sunday in November at 2:00 a.m., the time is moved back one hour (changing the time to 1:00 a.m.).

Time Changing on My Devices and Closing Thoughts

My cell phones and computer automatically change time appropriately. But, I still need to change the time on my battery-powered alarm clocks, my am-fm clock radio, and my am-fm CD player. It takes time to change the time on all these devices. I want to save that time. More important, I want to avoid the confusion of the time changes and the effects of altering my bedtime twice a year. Below is a picture of two of my battery-powered alarm clocks; I moved them to a convenient location to photograph.

A website Petitition2Congress.com[8] provides a form to contact the President, your United States Senators, and your Congressperson seeking action to end the practice of changing time twice a year. But, I think it’s better to e-mail, phone, or mail via the U.S. Postal Service a personal message to those individuals directly rather than sending a form letter.

Either permanent Daylight Saving Time or permanent Standard Time would be great with me. However, since Standard Time is the more standard version and supported more by health experts, I advocate permanent Standard Time. Maybe we can fall back one hour this fall to Standard Time, then stay on it. And of course, regardless of the time we're on, there are fewer hours of daylight in winter in the United States.

Many countries do not change time twice a year. However, adding to the confusion, those that do change time do not all adjust time on the same two dates of the year.

Momentum seems to be increasing toward ending this time-change practice in the United States and in other countries around the world.

If a huge number of persons urge Congress to act, I think change can come as soon as this year here in the United States. Let’s take action. I e-mailed my United States Senators and Congressperson about this issue. Will you contact yours, too, on this issue?

ENDNOTES:     

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[1] Maya Wei-Haas; “Tired of daylight saving time? These places are trying to end it”; National Geographic; March 8, 2019; website accessed July 6, 2019; https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2019/03/tired-of-daylight-saving-time-these-states-trying-to-end-clock-changes/

[2] Lucas Aulbach; “Tired of changing the clock? Kentucky lawmakers propose sticking with daylight saving time”; Courier-Journal; July 2, 2019; website accessed July 6, 2019; https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/07/02/kentucky-daylight-saving-time-bill-prefiled/1625917001/

[3] WLKY Digital Team; “Kentucky lawmakers file bill to make daylight saving time permanent”; WLKY; July 1, 2019; website accessed July 6, 2019; https://www.wlky.com/article/kentucky-lawmakers-file-bill-to-make-daylight-saving-time-permanent/28253027

[4] Aubrey, Allison; "Changing our clocks is a health hazard. Just ask a sleep doctor"; NPR; March 11, 2023, 7:01 a.m. ET; webpage accessed March 13, 2023; https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/03/11/1162345477/changing-our-clocks-is-a-health-hazard-just-ask-a-sleep-doctor#:~:text=Many%20doctors%20and%20scientists%20agree,time%2C%20which%20preserves%20morning%20light.

[5] “Daylight Saving Time”; Transportation.gov; updated March 10, 2014; website accessed July 6, 2019; https://www.transportation.gov/regulations/daylight-saving-time

[6] “Public Law 89-387: An Act to promote the observance of a uniform system of time throughout the United States”; April 13, 1966; website accessed July 6, 2019 and again February 5, 2023 ; https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-80/pdf/STATUTE-80-Pg107.pdf

[7] "Daylight Saving Time Rules"; National Institute of Standards and Techonology; March 2, 2010; last revised March 7, 2022; webpage accessed February 5, 2023; https://www.nist.gov/pml/time-and-frequency-division/popular-links/daylight-saving-time-dst (Numerous other articles also discuss the Energy Policy Act of 2005.)

[8] “END DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME”; Petition2Congress; website accessed July 6, 2019; https://www.petition2congress.com/ctas/end-daylight-savings-time

NOTE:

This piece being submitted to Google Blogger on July 9, 2019 is virtually identical to one the author submitted to another website (Craft News Report, operated by his friend Paul Craft) a few days earlier.

This Google Blogger article was last revised on November 4, 2023.