Time to Change Those Clocks…Again
By Rep. Dusty Johnson
March 12, 2021
Temps are rising and the sun isn’t setting at 4:30 in the afternoon – that can only mean one thing – Daylight Saving Time (DST) is here.
The “spring forward” has its pros and cons – the cons, we lose an hour of sleep and our kids’ schedules are in disarray for a few days – but for me, the extra daylight in the evening is well worth it. It’s the “fall back” I dislike, so much of the afternoon daylight is lost.
Congress established Daylight Saving Time through legislation, so Congress could just as easily undo it. That’s why I signed on to the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent. Namely, it would make the “spring forward” version of Daylight Saving Time the default – no more “fall back.” Most importantly, no more changing of the clocks twice a year.
There is broad, bipartisan support for this proposal. Since 2015, at least 45 states have introduced legislation to change their observance of DST, and eleven states have made this permanent switch to “spring forward.”
There’s nothing more depressing than leaving work or school only to be greeted by a dark sky. The Sunshine Protection Act solves this problem. Congress should do everyone a favor and let this weekend be the last time we’re all forced to change our clocks.
This would be great if we could get Congress to pass the legislation.
Never quite understood why this was necessary. It doesn’t change the amount of daylight and doesn’t change the amount of dark. It’s like cutting 12 inches off of one side of a blanket and then sewing it to the other side and then saying you now have a longer blanket.
Going to DST all year is an awful idea.
It has the children waiting for school buses in the dark, walking to school in the dark.
On October 30, 2018, three children were killed and a fourth injured in Indiana, crossing a highway to meet a school bus, 5 days before DST ended.
The driver who hit them saw the flashing lights but didn’t know it was a bus, she said she figured it was a wide load or agricultural equipment. By the time she could see that it was a school bus it was too late. That’s how dark it is in the mornings at the start and end of DST. Staying on DST through the winter will make the situation even worse.