Tomorrow at 2 am Daylight Savings Time returns. May it never depart again.
Late fall and winter already are depressingly dark. Losing an hour of late afternoon sun in November, when Daylight Savings Time ends, means that doing anything outside at that time is dreary, if not impossible.
Fortunately, there seems to be a good chance Congress is going to do away with the twice yearly clock changeover. So says a LA Times opinion piece.
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their clocks one hour ahead, grumble about losing an hour of sleep — and wonder why on Earth we keep observing the outdated tradition of tinkering with time twice a year.
...But inertia is a powerful force. We keep doing it because we’ve been doing it. And with more important issues commanding the attention of Congress, lawmakers must find it a lot easier just to follow this pointless tradition than to take to the time to examine 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.)
...Time may be running short for the clock-changing foolishness. This week Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) 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, because Rubio has enlisted the support of seven other senators from both parties.
At the very least, Congress should allow states to decide if they want to remain on Daylight Savings Time. (Currently states can stay on standard time if they wish, but not on Daylight Savings Time.)
In 2019 Oregon's legislature voted to have our state be permanently on Daylight Savings Time. But Congress needs to act if this is to happen.
Sure seems like this would be popular. Especially with people who enjoy getting out and doing something after work. Or, for retired people like me, going for a late afternoon dog walk in daylight.
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