5 Daylight Saving Time Facts Most People Don’t Know & The New Bill to Abolish It
Daylight Saving Time — a tradition we all wish would die. Nothing is more depressing than leaving for work when it’s dark out and coming home when it’s dark out.
Twice a year, we ask ourselves the same two questions:
Why do we still do this?
And,
When is it going to end?
When looking into it this week, I was surprised to learn that the reason daylight saving started was not the reason I believed it was for the past 28 years (Spoiler Alert: It has nothing to do with farming if you also believed that, like me).
I also learned that in March 2022, a bill was proposed to make U.S. daylight saving time permanent, meaning there will be no change in November.
The Sunshine Protection Act
The Sunshine Protection Act was a bill sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R‑FL) and Vern Buchanan (R‑FL 16th) in 2022. If enacted, U.S. clocks would not “fall back” in November, and we would have a full year of daylight saving time (DST) instead of only eight months.
This bill does NOT:
· Alter or change time zones.
· Change the number of hours of sunlight each day.
· Affect U.S. states and territories that do not currently observe day light saving time
In March 2022, the Senate passed the bill unanimously — an extremely rare occurrence. However, it failed to pass in the House.
There were disputes around the language in the bill. Two rounds of revisions have been made since its initial proposal. It passed through the Senate again and is currently still held up in the House, which has cited that there are higher priorities like the Ukraine war, inflation, and budget deficit that they are focused on.
Sen. Marco Rubio is still pushing hard for the bill to get passed, stating that it would improve the economy (more spending during daylight hours), reduce crime, and improve mental health.
So, there is still hope that light will prevail over darkness! (A quote from the Netflix series The Light We Cannot See that also fits perfectly into this topic)
Did you know? Daylight Saving Time Started in 1918. Five Fun Facts About Daylight Saving Time
My entire life, up until I started writing this article, I believed that daylight saving time was created to help farmers. I don’t know who told me this, but I never fact-checked it, which led me down a rabbit hole searching for the truth. As a result, it led to find more intriguing facts:
1. Daylight Saving Time was NOT created for Farmers
In fact, farmers were opposed to it when the government first proposed it. The sun dictates the schedule of a farmer, not the clock. By changing the clocks, farmers had to wait an extra hour for dew to evaporate in the mornings of the hay, which delayed the feeding and milking of cows. It also changed the time they had to get their crops to market.
2. It was Created to Help Conserve Energy During World War I
The U.S. first adopted daylight-saving time in 1918 in an effort to save energy during World War I. It was in effect for less than a year.
It was brought back again by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 and called “war time,” a year-round daylight-saving time to save energy during World War II. It ended a year later, in 1945, but many states still adopted their own summer time changes. This led to confusion across the U.S. from 1945 to 1966. The broadcasting and transportation industry (railroad, airline, and bus) struggled to maintain accurate schedules.
In response, congress established a national pattern for summer time changes with the Uniform Time Act in 1966. Moving forward, it was decided that the U.S. Department of Transportation oversees time changes in the United States.
Interesting fact about the Uniform Time Act: “If a State chooses to observe Daylight Saving Time, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates. Under the Uniform Time Act, States may choose to exempt themselves from observing Daylight Saving Time by State law. States do not have the authority to choose to be on permanent Daylight Saving Time” (Stated on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s website).
3. It’s Daylight Saving Time — Singular, NOT Plural
Who knew? Admittedly, not me, LOL. Many Americans, when speaking, make saving plural, but it has always been singular.
If you think about it, it makes sense — we are saving daylight, not building a savings account.
4. Only 73 Counties Observe Daylight Saving Time
According to CNN, countries closer to the equator, including China and Japan, don’t observe daylight saving time.
Those countries don’t need to change from standard time since their daylight hours don’t vary much from season to season.
5. Daylight Saving Time May have ruined Drive-In Theaters
After daylight saving time was reinstated in 1966, the drive-in theater business took a hit. Business owners complained that movies would start too late.
There were more than 4,000 drive-in movie theaters estimated to be in business across America in the mid-1960s. Today, there are only about 330 drive-in theaters left in the U.S. (Source: AAA)
Sources that supported this article:
· https://www.rubio.senate.gov/
· Six things to know about the political debate around daylight saving time, Emily Olson
· 8 Things You May Not Know About Daylight Saving Time, Christopher Klein
· Daylight Saving Time Fast Facts, CNN Editorial Research
· 25 Fascinating Facts About Daylight Saving Time, Karin Crompton
