It’s nearly that time of year again when Americans reset their clocks one hour ahead, grumble about losing an hour of sleep — and wonder why on Earth we keep observing the outdated tradition of tinkering with time twice a year.
It’s a good question. There’s no practical benefit to the biannual clock-changing ritual beyond reminding people to check their smoke alarm batteries. But there are plenty of annoyances and maybe some health risks too.
But inertia is a powerful force. We keep doing it because we’ve been doing it.
Nevertheless, momentum is building nationally to dump this practice and stick with daylight saving time year round. (In the event you are confused — and many of us are — daylight saving is recognized for the eight months from March to November; standard time is what we revert to for the other four months.)
Sixteen states including California have endorsed the idea of remaining on daylight saving time permanently, and others are considering it. Two states don’t do the clock-changing thing at all, because they recognize standard time year round: Arizona (except for the portion within the Navajo nation), because of the summer heat, and Hawaii, because of its proximity to the equator, which gives each day there a roughly equal amount of daylight all year long.
Last week Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., reintroduced a bill that would put the nation on permanent daylight saving time. It’s the third time he has proposed this change since 2018, when his state’s Legislature voted in favor of stopping the time shift. Earlier versions didn’t get very far. This time may be different, however.
We sure hope the third time is the charm because the benefits for keeping this tradition, if there ever were any, aren’t relevant in 2021. It didn’t deliver any significant energy savings, as was hoped when adopted during World War I. And though we have all heard the argument about kids having to walk to school in the dark if we don’t move the clocks back for winter, it’s not really an issue today. Most young schoolchildren don’t walk to school by themselves anymore, according to the National Center for Safe Routes to School, because it’s not perceived to be safe no matter how light it is outside. And older kids generally have later schedules, so not only would they not be affected by the later sunrise, they’d have more daylight for after-school programs and sports.
And the poor farmers we have heard so much about? It’s a myth that adopting daylight saving was a measure to help agriculture. In fact, when California voted to start the clock-changing practice in 1949, farmers were very much opposed to it, noting that cows didn’t care whether it was 6 a.m. or 3 million o’clock.
There are some who would prefer permanent standard time, which means more daylight in the morning year round. But we think it makes more sense to have more daylight at the end of the day when more people are awake and active. Besides, it would be less disruptive, as we already spend two-thirds of the year on daylight saving time.
But the most important thing is for us to stop messing with the clocks twice a year. Time’s up for this silly tradition.
— The Los Angeles Times
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March 14, 2021 at 01:46PM
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Other voices: Time to stop messing around with time - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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