“The good news? If we can get it passed, we don’t have to continue doing this stupidity anymore,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said about his legislation to eliminate the need to change the clocks every year in March and November.
This was an experiment America had tried before, and it failed. The government attempted an experiment in the 1970s when America was experiencing an energy crisis. Congress passed legislation to make daylight savings time permanent for the entire year, but only for two years. It was believed that more sunlight at night would decrease the nation’s energy use.
David Prerau, one the country’s most respected experts on the subject, stated that it didn’t work.
NPR’s He said that it became “very unpopular very quickly”.
Americans don’t like to change their clocks. But they also disliked going to school and work in the dark for long periods of time — the price that the country had to pay to get more sunlight in the winter evenings.
It didn’t reduce energy use as it was intended. The law was repealed by Congress in 1974 — just before the two-year experiment had even begun. Nearly 50 years later Congress is still at it.
On the Senate floor, Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) exclaimed, “Today, the Senate has finally delivered what Americans all over the nation want: to never need to change their clocks again.”
“We know daylight saving time helps people smile, and it turns the corners of their mouths upwards.” said Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
Steve Calandrillo is a University of Washington professor who supports permanent daylight savings time. A recent House subcommittee heard his testimony that the time would save lives, reduce crime, conserve electricity, improve health, and boost the economy. His motto was “Darkness kills but sunshine saves.”
A neurologist from Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Dr. Beth Malow also testified. Although she agreed it would be better for Americans to stop changing their clocks every hour, she believes that permanent standard time is a better option.
She said that standard time is called such because it aligns with our biological rhythms. A permanent standard time would make it more healthy, particularly for school students and front-line workers.
Prerau says that the best solution is to not do anything at all. The current system, which began in 2007 and ends in November, was the result of decades of research and compromise.
He stated that he believes the current system, with its flaws, was the best one.
Although the House does not have any immediate plans to adopt the Senate-passed bill as of now, there is bipartisan support. It has not yet been endorsed by the Biden administration. Jen Psaki, White House spokesperson, stated that she didn’t know of any specific positions from the administration at this time.
This is the history lesson for Congress: Be cautious about what you vote for.
