Whatever Happened To Making Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

MASSACHUSETTS — There was a rare moment of unity in the U.S. Senate in March 2022 when Senators voted through unanimous consent to back a bill called "The Sunshine Protect Act" that would have ended the practice the changing the clocks twice a year and made Daylight Saving Time permanent.

The bill was originally intended to take effect this fall.

As folks prepare to once again "fall back" this weekend — resulting in a 4:32 p.m. sunset on Sunday — many might be asking: Whatever happened to the proposal to keep things just a bit brighter during the onset of the long, cold winter that had so much support just 18 months ago?

The answer is that the bill was never taken up in the U.S. House of Representatives and never made it to President Joe Biden's desk for a signature.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), one of the original sponsors of the bill — along with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) — and its chief proponent on the Senate floor, is now calling for a revival after yet another winter of self-imposed afternoon darkness.

"When we 'fall back' and lose the extra hour of Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, we are sacrificing energy savings, crime reduction and economic benefits for darkness," Markey said in a statement on Friday. "Over the years, I've fought and won to extend daylight saving time — adding two months' worth of sun to the American people's calendar (in the amended 1985 Uniform Time Act), which saves the same amount of electricity as used by over 100,000 households for an entire year.

"It's past time for Congress to take up the Sunshine Protection Act and make Daylight Saving Time permanent to keep the sun shining."

Markey said that studies show that making DST permanent would have positive impacts on public health, the economy, and climate change.

So what's the problem and why are we doing this to ourselves again this weekend?

While supporters of "The Sunshine Protection Act" hail the idea of after-school sports not having to be halted by darkness in early November and the ability of those working a typical 9-to-5 shift the chance to travel home in at least fleeting sunlight through December, safety advocates raised concerns that adding an hour of sun in the afternoon when days are shortest means a late sunrise in the morning that would have some school children waiting at bus stops before dawn.

The U.S. actually did adopt a year-round Daylight Saving Time during the 1973 energy crisis under President Richard Nixon, but it was rescinded under President Gerald Ford a year later as morning vehicle accident rates rose and public support plummeted.

A half-century later, as proponents of the "The Sunshine Protection Act" argue that modern technology and human behavioral shifts make it more desirable for most to see the sun as late in the day as possible and has rendered changing the clocks twice a year as antiquated, there are those who agree that we should no longer be "springing forward" and "falling back" but that the "real" time — Standard Time observed in the winter — should be the one adopted year-round.

The Coalition for Permanent Standard Time urges that while human behavior has changed dramatically since the farming and factory days when people generally rose at sunrise and hit the hay shortly after sunset, it's not necessarily a good thing.

"By causing the human body clock to be misaligned with the natural environment, Daylight Saving Time increases risks to our physical health, mental well-being, and public safety," American Academy of Sleep Medicide Public Safety Committee Chair Dr. M. Adeel Rishi said in a statement this week. "Permanent standard time is the optimal choice for health and safety."

However, Sen. Rubio — who rarely agrees with Sen. Markey on any policy in front of the U.S. Senate — doubled down on his call for brighter afternoons ahead this week.

"In 2022, the Senate unanimously passed my bill to Lock the Clock on Daylight Saving Time," Rubio said on X/Twitter. "Making DST permanent is more popular than ever with 22 states supporting it.

"Congress should pass my bill and make this a law once and for all."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)