On March 15, 2022, the US Senate passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would end Daylight Saving Time in 2023. However, the law has not yet been in effect because lawmakers disagreed on whether to move forward with permanent standard time or to keep the practice of DST.
Daylight Saving Time was first enacted in 1918. This new law aimed to minimize the amount of hours of wasted daylight, with hopes that people would be more productive due to this change. This led to a biannual change in America’s clocks: in the spring, the time moves forward one hour, while in the fall, clocks revert to standard time.
Ever since the law passed, people have found multiple issues with the change of the clocks. For one, DST may be outdated. It was first introduced by Benjamin Franklin in 1784 to reduce candle usage and thus save energy. However, the US has since moved to alternative lighting sources, such as light bulbs, which consume less energy. DST even has the potential to use more energy due to excess usage of air conditioning or heating units.
Students at NHP Memorial have also found DST to be inconvenient for their lifestyles. Many of their grievances regard the time change during the spring season; since the clocks move forward an hour, students find scheduling conflicts with the missed time.
“It throws off my sleep schedule and it takes me days to get used to the new time change,” junior Isabelle Siesto said.
“Daylight Saving Time is pretty annoying because we lose the hour for no reason at all,” junior Ethan Ching said. “Plus, I have to take time out of my day to change every clock I see. It gets tiring.”
As mentioned before, the Sunshine Protection Act was reintroduced this year as a solution to these grievances. It has been forwarded to the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for revision. The bill needs to be signed by President Joe Biden in order to be made into a formal law.
“I don’t really notice when the time changes in the fall season,” junior Christine Wang said. “It’s just an hour difference, so it doesn’t affect my lifestyle that much.”
Daylight Saving Time is a controversial topic that Americans have debated over for decades. With concerns over the disruption of sleep versus the lack of productive daylight hours, there are many factors that lawmakers must consider when passing the Sunshine Protection Act.
