On Sunday, the clocks turned back once again for daylight saving time and maybe for the very last time.
In recent years, the conversation surrounding daylight saving time seems to grow larger, drawing questions to its usefulness in a modern world. Critics point out a lack of acknowledgement toward the advancement of technology and claim that rather than conserving energy, daylight saving time negatively impacts health, productivity and sleep patterns, according to Britannica. As the conversation progresses, there seems to be only two conclusions: the elimination or permanence of daylight saving time.
Most recent updates to this conversation follow a social media post made by Donald J. Trump, 47th president of the United States, in the weeks prior to his induction on Dec. 13 which stated that “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate daylight saving time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight saving time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” according to TIME. Trump has continued to support his opposition toward daylight saving time, to which I feel I have to disagree with.
How could it possibly be beneficial to entirely eliminate daylight saving time? Any proposal that supports the argument that daylight saving time is unreasonable is unreasonable in itself. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
In 1966, daylight saving time followed the evolution of the oversight of federally recognized time zones, which were created in 1883. According to the Department of Transportation (DOT), the enactment of the 1918 Standard Time Act gave oversight of time to the Interstate Commerce Commission. Oversight was later transferred to the DOT with the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which also established daylight saving time in order to conserve energy by allowing people to work longer using natural sunlight.
So, yes, the initial reasoning behind the creation of daylight saving time may be outdated, but hear me out now — there is absolutely no reason the sun should be going down at 5 p.m. in 2025. In fact, there are many benefits to later sunsets.
For one, longer daylight hours increase the overall safety of the general area as increased daylight from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. creates safer roads and lowered criminal activity. According to Britannica, studies show that there is a significant decrease in evening car accidents during daylight saving time and robberies drop about 7% overall and 27% in the evening hours.
Additionally, there is a positive impact on the economy when there are longer daylight hours. Later daylight means more people shopping after work, increasing retail sales, and more people driving, increasing gas and snacks sales. According to Britannica, chambers of commerce tend to support daylight saving time because of this positive effect on the economy.
Beyond these societal benefits to extended daylight hours, the mental health impact of more sunlight also seems to favor daylight saving time. I personally love a little bit of sun, and it appears that most people do, too. According to LCMC Health, sunlight leads to improved mood, can increase the body’s levels of serotonin and decrease symptoms of anxiety or depression. That’s the reason that light therapy is often recommended for treating depression, including Seasonal Affective Disorder.
However, according to Carolina News, others argue that the change to their schedule is difficult to manage and therefore causes a decrease in productivity and negative effects to an individual’s sleep routine. While this argument seems valid, it is only valid in the pretense that there is a change from standard time to daylight savings time. However, if daylight saving time was made permanent, then there would be no change, and these impacts would be void as well.
With this information, the states are allowed to support the practice or the annulment of daylight saving time at their discretion. According to NBC News Center Maine, many states have passed measures to either stay on or discontinue daylight saving time permanently, and, as of 2024, at least 30 states are still considering legislation related to daylight saving time.
As for Louisiana, all considerations regarding daylight saving time follow House Bill 132, which was signed into law in 2020 to make daylight saving time permanent in the state of Louisiana.
However, time is still in the hands of the government and no bills or laws aiming to make daylight saving time permanent may take effect until there is a federal repeal of the Uniform Time Act. What the act does is set the dates for when we go forward an hour or back an hour. “States may exempt themselves from daylight saving time by state law, but if a state chooses to observe daylight saving time, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates,” according to DOT.
Essentially, daylight saving time can only be practiced the way the government says it can. Therefore, can only be observed within the perimeters of the second Sunday of March until the first Sunday of November.
There has been much conversation surrounding this ruling of the Uniform Time Act, including the proposal of the “Sunshine Protection Act” by Senator Marco Rubio. According to NBC News Center Maine, the “Sunshine Protection Act” would permanently establish daylight saving time for the whole country despite rulings of the Uniform Time Act. In 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved the measure; however, the legislation was never brought to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Following the lack of advancement with the “Sunshine Protection Act,” there is also a lack of motion on the other side as well. Trump has not yet made any official advancements on his claim to eliminate daylight saving time. So, essentially, there is nothing being done officially regarding daylight saving time except for people arguing ‘what’s best’ from both sides. Much is still to be considered and regarded but all one can hope is that between the unreasonable deletion of daylight saving time versus the wonderful permanence of extended sunshine, happiness and light, the DOT and U.S. government will make the right decision.
