Communicating Authentically

On March 15, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, sponsored by Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), which would make Daylight Saving Time permanent, as of November 5, 2023. The bill still needs Congressional approval and a Presidential signature, but most Americans agree that it’s a good idea to stop changing our clocks twice a year.

There are so many reasons: If you forget to set your clock ahead the Sunday before, you’ll be an hour late for everything on Monday. And while many electronics, like our mobile phones, cable boxes, etc. self-correct, there are always those “old-fashioned” clocks that must be reset ahead twice every year. There’s always one clock you forget. Or the clock you can’t remember how to reset, so you have to dig out the owner’s manual every time. And that’s not to mention the lost hour of sleep, which, it turns out, is a pretty big deal in terms of your health and safety.

This is why the American Academy of Sleep Medicine supports the elimination of twice-yearly time changes. However, they don’t support Rubio’s proposed move to permanent DST. Instead, their position statement supports “the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety.”

So how did we get here in the first place?

About Daylight Saving Time

In the United States (except in Hawaii, parts of Arizona, Amish communities, and some U.S. Territories), Daylight Saving Time (DST) begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. It’s “Spring forward” — meaning clocks are set one hour ahead in March, and “Fall back,” because clocks are turned back to Standard Time in November.

Technically, clocks are turned forward at 0200 hours, or 2:00am in the spring when they are changed to 03:00. In November, at 0200, they are set back to 1:00am. Most people just do it before they go to bed on Saturday night, or on Sunday when they realize they forgot. And there are always a few who change their clocks after the Monday morning phone call from their boss, telling them they’re late.

Myths About DST

Myth #1: To address a pet peeve for many: It’s “Daylight Saving Time,” not “Daylight Savings Time.”

Myth #2: It was invented to benefit farmers — no one is actually sure who came up with this whopper. American farmers were strongly opposed to the time switch when it was first implemented back in 1918, and they are no fonder of it today. Today, they are equally unconcerned about abolishing it.

Myth #3: Benjamin Franklin did not invent DST. In a satirical 1784 essay, he proposed adjusting sleep schedules to coincide with the rising of the sun to save candle wax. But he was only half-serious and did not suggest changing clock times back and forth. Modern DST was actually started in Canada in 1908 but was popularized globally by Germany during World War I. Blame Kaiser Wilhelm for showing up late on Monday.

Myth #4: DST saves electricity – the jury’s out on that one, but it probably doesn’t save much, and may even waste some. Data analyzed by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the California Energy Commission (CEC) in 1975 estimated a 1% reduction in energy consumption. But more recent studies show that increased use of air conditioning now offsets this reduction, and may actually cause an increase in electricity use during DST. 

Chaotic History of DST

For over a hundred years, DST in the U.S. has been a source of confusion and frustration, especially when dealing with locations that don’t observe time changes or observe them on different dates.

In 1918, to the chagrin of many Americans – including farmers – the U.S. House of Representatives passed a law “to preserve daylight” and conserve energy, following the lead of Germany, the UK, and many other European countries. The Standard Time act was repealed in 1919 after World War I ended, but some areas, including New York City and Chicago, continued to observe it.

During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted year-round “War Time,” from February 1942 through September 1945 during which the clocks were moved ahead.

Afterward, between 1945 and 1966, there was no federal law regarding DST. Every state and even different cities and counties could observe whatever time made sense to them. Time magazine called it “a chaos of clocks.” For example, the state of Iowa had 23 completely different DST start and end dates. On a 35-mile stretch between Ohio and West Virginia, there were seven different time zones. And Minnesota’s “twin cities” of Minneapolis and St. Paul had a two-week difference in their DST observances. Obviously, that didn’t make much sense to the transportation or broadcast industry, which were constantly juggling different time schedules for the areas they served.

In 1966, Congress stepped in to pass the Uniform Time Act, which instituted a nationwide Daylight Saving Time system, which ran from the last Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October within each time zone. States could be exempted only if the state’s legislature voted for the entire state to remain on standard time.

Since then, it’s changed a few more times:

• In 1974, due to the energy crisis, DST ran from January 6 through October 27, but resumed resumed to the dates set under the Uniform Time Act before the following year – more on that below.
• In 1986, legislation passed to change the dates from the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
• In 2005, the Energy Policy Act extended DST starting in 2007 to its current dates, starting on the second Sunday in March and ending on the first Sunday in November.

Confusing Present State of DST

Per the Uniform Time Act of 1966, not all states observe DST. Hawaii observes standard time all year, as do the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands. And while the Navajo Nation in Arizona (and part of New Mexico and Utah) observes it, the rest of Arizona does not. 

Currently, 70 countries observe some form of DST. In most of Western Europe and the European Union, DST is also called “Summer Time”; it begins at 1:00 a.m. GMT on the last Sunday of March and ends at 1:00 a.m. GMT on the last Sunday of October. 

China, Japan, and India do not observe any form of DST, and most countries close to the equator don’t experience a variance of daylight hours throughout the year, so they have no need for it. Other areas of the world vary widely in their observance of DST. 

Costs of DST

In addition to the confusion and the questionable energy savings of DST, recent studies show that there could be a larger cost to observing DST, in terms of health, safety, and productivity.

According to a 2014 study, there are 24% more heart attacks on the Monday after we “spring forward” than other Monday during the year.

A separate study conducted the same year showed an increase in deadly motor vehicle crashes for six days following the time change, citing the adjustment to a darker morning commute and sleep deprivation as the main causes. A 2004 study estimated that eliminating DST would reduce pedestrian deaths by 171 per year, and motor vehicle accident fatalities by 195 per year.

A 2016 study estimated that from 2002 to 2011, negative impacts of DST caused more than 30 deaths, and an annual social cost of $275 million annually. An index released in 2013 suggests that cost of the various health effects and lost productivity could be up to $434 million in the U.S. alone.

So would switching to DST permanently change that? Maybe – but maybe not as much as hoped.

Those Who Cannot Remember the Past…

… are condemned to repeat it, as George Santayana said. Sen. Rubio may be forgiven for not remembering what happened in 1974 since he was only three at the time, but he would have been wise to do his research.

In November 1973, President Nixon proposed making DST permanent for the next two years, as a way to alleviate the energy crisis. Much like they do today, Americans supported the idea of not switching their clocks anymore. So in 1974, they set their clocks ahead but didn’t set them back.

And they quickly regretted it.

It turns out, running on DST in the winter means getting up, having breakfast, and driving to work and school – in the dark and cold for months on end. People hated it – and it made no difference in oil prices. So, in 1975, they switched back, before the proposed two-year period ended.

Listen to the Science?

Science supports the general feeling of the 1974 public.

The vote on the somewhat maudlinly-named Sunshine Protection Act took place during the political chaos of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and so there was little discussion. But Vanderbilt University Medical Center neurologist Beth Malow did testify that exposing people to more light in the morning and less in the evening cuts back on sleep deprivation, saying “It’s called standard time because ST lines up with our natural, biological rhythms.” Maintaining DST may increase sleep deprivation, which in turn could lead to increased obesity, depression, ADHD, and cancer. Those most impacted would be people of lower socioeconomic status: students and people who are required to work early hours.

Proponents of year-long DST claim it would decrease rush-hour traffic accidents and nighttime crime – even though the number of dark hours wouldn’t change. Industry groups support it because people would be out later, spending more money during more frequent light evenings.

In its recent statement, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine has urged the House to do some due diligence to evaluate all the potential impacts of permanent daylight saving time on U.S. citizens.

Maybe we should listen to the science.