Employees with the Architect wind the Ohio Clock in the U.S. Capitol in Washington. The majority of the US resumed daylight saving time on Sunday, advancing one hour. In November, the United States will return to standard time.
The United States Senate passed legislation on Tuesday that would make daylight saving time permanent from 2024, abolishing the twice-annual clock changes in favour of brighter afternoons and increased economic activity.
The Sunshine Protection Act was unanimously adopted by voice vote in the Senate. The law must still be passed by the House of Representatives, which has held a committee hearing on it, before it can be given to President Joe Biden for signature.
About 30 states have submitted legislation to cease the twice-yearly changing of the clocks since 2015, with others proposing to do so only if adjacent states follow suit.
According to polls, the annual switch between Standard Time, which attempts to maximise daylight during winter mornings, and Daylight Saving Time, which delays sunset by one hour throughout spring, summer, and fall, is disliked by the majority of Americans.
Researchers have discovered several drawbacks, including a reported increase in heart attacks, strokes, and sleep deprivation in the days after the March time change. According to sleep experts, standard time corresponds to the human biological clock, which requires light to be completely attentive.
According to proponents of daylight-saving time, the extra hour of afternoon daylight boosts economic activity and reduces crime and traffic accidents during the evening rush hour, when children are more likely to be out playing and drivers are more likely to be impaired by drink.
In congressional testimony last week, Steve Calandrillo of the University of Washington said, “It is past time that we set our clocks forward forever.” Senator Marco Rubio, one of the bill’s sponsors, stated that supporters agreed that the change would not occur until November 2024, following input from airlines and broadcasters.
“I appreciate this isn’t the most pressing issue confronting America but it’s one of those topics where there’s a lot of agreement. If we pass this, we won’t have to deal with this crap. Pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come,” he continued.
About Daylight Saving Time
Daylight saving times, also known as summertime, is the practise of advancing clocks during parts of the year, typically by one hour around spring and summer, so that daylight ends at a later time of the day.
Though his suggestion was a joke, Benjamin Franklin is credited with the notion of daylight-saving time. In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris, Franklin joked that people should get out of bed earlier in the morning to reduce the use of candles and lamp oil.
He never mentioned moving the clocks forward or backward. After being tried for the first time in 1918, daylight saving time has been in use in practically all of the United States since the 1960s. Year-round daylight savings time was utilised during WWII, and it was reinstated in 1973 in response to an oil embargo, but it was revoked the following year.
Under the bill, Arizona and Hawaii, which do not observe daylight saving time, as well as American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the United States Virgin Islands, would be able to continue on standard time under the bill.
Published by – Kiruthiga K
Edited by – Kritika Kashyap
