Here Comes... Permanent Daylight Saving Time

It's Thursday, July sixteenth. On Tuesday, the House passed the Sunshine Protection Act 308 to 117, which would make daylight saving time permanent and end the twice-a-year clock change that every American complains about but nobody has managed to stop for over a hundred years. The congressman who read the final vote count started playing "Here Comes the Sun" on his phone from the House floor. Also, fun fact: Congress is constitutionally immune from copyright lawsuits for actions taken during official proceedings, so DesJarlais doesn't owe the Beatles or whoever owns the rights a single dollar. Restaurants paid royalties on Happy Birthday for eighty years and a congressman can play the Beatles from the House floor for free. Anyway. Trump has said he'll sign it. The Senate still needs to vote, and they've been weird about this before, so nothing is guaranteed. But the question I kept coming back to is one I've somehow never looked into despite changing my clocks twice a year for my entire life: why do we do this? Who decided that every March we lose an hour of sleep and every November we get it back? Because whoever decided that, most Americans would like a word with them. The popular version of the origin story credits Benjamin Franklin, but Franklin was joking. In 1784, while living in Paris, he wrote a satirical essay suggesting that Parisians could save money on candles if they woke up earlier to use natural sunlight. He proposed taxing shutters, rationing candle purchases, and firing cannons at sunrise to wake everyone up. It was a humor piece. He did not propose changing the clocks.

The actual origin was World War I. In 1918, as part of the war effort, Congress passed the Standard Time Act, which included a provision for daylight saving time as an energy conservation measure. The logic was that by shifting an hour of daylight from the morning, when most people were asleep, to the evening, when they were active, the country would use less artificial light and save fuel for the war. Germany had adopted the same idea two years earlier, and most of Europe followed. After the war ended, Congress repealed daylight saving time because it was deeply unpopular, especially with farmers who had to work on the sun's schedule regardless of what the clock said.

It came back during World War II as "War Time" and stayed in effect from 1942 to 1945. After that, it became optional, and different states and cities adopted it on their own schedules, which created chaos. A 35-mile bus ride from Steubenville, Ohio to Moundsville, West Virginia passed through seven time changes in the 1960s because every town along the route had its own policy. Congress finally standardized it in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act, which established the spring-forward, fall-back system we use today, with the option for states to exempt themselves entirely. Hawaii and most of Arizona took that option and have been on permanent standard time ever since. The thing that most people don't realize is that the United States already tried permanent daylight saving time, and it went so badly that Congress killed it early.

In January 1974, during the oil crisis, President Nixon signed a bill making daylight saving time year-round for what was supposed to be a two-year experiment. The idea was the same as in 1918: more evening daylight would mean less energy consumption. The public was initially supportive, with about 79 percent in favor before it started.

Within weeks, the enthusiasm collapsed. In northern states, the sun wasn't rising until after 8 AM in January and February. In some parts of the country, it was closer to 9. Kids were waiting for school buses in total darkness. Parents were terrified. The National School Boards Association called for the experiment's immediate end. A child in Florida was hit by a car while walking to school in the dark, and the incident became national news. By February, approval had dropped to 42 percent. The experiment that was supposed to last two years was abandoned after ten months. Congress reverted to the twice-a-year system and hasn't successfully changed it since, though not for lack of trying.

In 2022, the Senate actually passed a version of the Sunshine Protection Act by unanimous consent, which is a fast-track procedure that requires zero objections. After it passed, multiple senators publicly said they would have objected if they'd been paying attention, and that they didn't realize the vote was happening. The bill died in the House because members said they needed more time to study it. Congress accidentally passed permanent daylight saving time, realized what they'd done, and let it expire. Everyone agrees that changing the clocks twice a year is bad. About 75 percent of Americans want to stop. The research supports them: the Monday after "spring forward" sees measurable spikes in heart attacks, strokes, workplace injuries, car accidents, and medical errors. The disruption to circadian rhythms, your body's internal clock, is real and documented. Even small sleep disruptions, like losing a single hour, produce measurable effects on attention, reaction time, and judgment for days afterward. One analysis estimated that the health costs of the time change alone total about $626 million per year.

Where it gets complicated is what to replace it with. The Sunshine Protection Act locks the country into permanent daylight saving time, which means more evening light year-round but also means later sunrises in winter. In December, under permanent DST, the sun wouldn't rise in New York until about 8:15 AM. In Detroit, it would be closer to 9 AM. In parts of Alaska, you wouldn't see sunlight until late morning. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine has actually come out against permanent daylight saving time, arguing that permanent standard time is the healthier option because it aligns better with the body's natural circadian rhythm, which is calibrated by morning light exposure.

So the medical establishment wants permanent standard time. Congress just voted for permanent daylight saving time. And the difference matters more than most people realize: standard time gives you brighter mornings and earlier sunsets. Daylight saving gives you darker mornings and later sunsets. One is better for your biology. The other is better for after-work barbecues. The country has to choose, and the bill that just passed chose barbecues.

The irony is that the original reason for daylight saving time, energy conservation, has been largely debunked by modern research. Studies have shown that the energy savings are minimal to nonexistent because whatever electricity we save on lighting in the evening, we spend on heating in the darker mornings and air conditioning in the longer, hotter afternoons. A war measure from 1918 that was supposed to save fuel has been running on inertia for over a century, and the bill Congress just passed doesn't eliminate the outdated policy. It makes it permanent. So if this comes up in conversation, here's how to think about it. The House voted 308 to 117 on Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent, ending the twice-a-year clock change. Daylight saving started as a World War I energy conservation measure in 1918 and has been running on inertia ever since. The US already tried permanent daylight saving in 1974 and abandoned it after ten months because kids were going to school in the dark. In 2022, the Senate accidentally passed it by unanimous consent and then let it die when senators realized what they'd voted for. Seventy five percent of Americans want to stop changing clocks, but the medical establishment wants permanent standard time while Congress just voted for permanent daylight saving, and the two aren't the same thing. Hawaii and most of Arizona already opted out and have been fine. The energy savings that justified the whole system have been debunked by modern research. A policy from 1918 that nobody likes and that doesn't accomplish its original purpose is about to become permanent law, and the congressman who announced it played "Here Comes the Sun" on his phone.

Stay informed, stay curious, and we'll see you tomorrow.