The first two weeks of March have already brought us Mardi Gras, Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day, and the much more dreaded “spring forward” of daylight saving time, which took place in Sunday’s wee hours.
Although most people don’t have to change their clocks manually anymore, the time change remains inconvenient. Legislators across the country are looking to change that.
Is it really that big of a deal to change the time twice a year? Some people think so. In 2017, Scott Yates, author and creator of BlogMutt, created #LockTheClock: Stop Changing Clocks for Daylight Saving Time, a website that brings awareness to the dangers of the time change. Yates wrote in one post that mandating a time change can be “dangerous and deadly,” and it was time for state legislatures to get involved.
Best Life, a lifestyle magazine for men, went as far as to say that science confirms it should be abolished. The January article claims that changing the time causes problems for people “that extend well past sleep deprivation,” which includes causing them to eat more, look older, and be less productive.
DST has a long history in the U.S., going back to its initial adoption by Congress during World War I and its repeal afterward over the veto of President Wilson.
In 1966, Congress mandated daylight time for all states except those that passed a law exempting their entire state. In 1972 an exception was created, allowing states along the borders of time zones to exempt the area in one time zone or the other.
Until last decade, Indiana was one of the last holdouts taking advantage of this exception. The great majority of the Hoosier State, all but its northwest and southwest corners, remained on Eastern Standard Time year-round, sharing their clock with New York City during the winter and with Chicago during the summer. When the Hoosier State gave in and began observing DST in 2006, it seemed as if the whole nation, including Arizona, would eventually head in that direction.
But now, the tables have turned. New Mexico could soon go to Mountain Standard Time year-round, joining Hawaii and Arizona in keeping a consistent clock. According to the sponsors of the bill in the Land of Enchantment, daylight saving time disrupts people’s sleep patterns and can have damaging affects on their health, the Albuquerque Journal reported back in February.
State legislatures in Alaska, Idaho, and Texas are all considering abolition of the time change. The argument that we should all just get over it and adapt might be falling out of favor.
