It’s that time of year again: many Americans adjusted their clocks and circadian rhythms with the end of daylight saving time on Sunday.
This means that, in most states, mornings will be brighter and nights darker.
Millions of people across the country had their clocks set back one hour – a welcome adjustment for those seeking more sleep and criticized by those who consider it an inconvenience.
Here’s what you need to know.
How many states observe daylight saving time?
All US states observe daylight saving time, except Hawaii and Arizona, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). However, the portion of the Navajo Nation located in Arizona does observe daylight saving time. The US territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, and Northern Mariana Islands also do not change their clocks.
Many more want it adopted. Nineteen states have passed laws that would create permanent daylight saving time for their residents, according to the NCSL (National Conference of State Legislatures).
“As federal law currently does not allow full-time daylight saving time, Congress would have to act before states could adopt changes,” according to the NCSL.
Many Americans want permanent daylight saving time
Only 12% of US adults favor the current daylight saving time system, while 47% oppose it, according to an AP-NORC poll.
And 56% of adults surveyed said they prefer permanent daylight saving time, with less light in the morning and more light at night, according to the poll. Forty-two percent said they prefer permanent standard time, with more light in the morning and less light at night.
The proposal to make daylight saving time permanent fails again
President Trump asked Congress to pass legislation making daylight saving time permanent — which, if enacted, would end the debate over whether the US should change clocks twice a year.
Both the House and Senate should “push hard for more daylight at the end of the day,” the president wrote in April on Truth Social.
But an attempt to block clock changes stalled once again in Congress.
The Sunshine Protection Act, sponsored by Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida with bipartisan support, would make daylight saving time the permanent standard time. Earlier this week, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas objected to Scott’s request to advance the measure by unanimous consent, arguing that permanent daylight saving time would make winter “a dark and gloomy time for millions of Americans”.
“By delaying clocks by one hour in winter, permanent daylight saving time would make the winter sunrise occur at an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunlight essential for our safety and well-being,” Cotton said on Tuesday on the Senate floor.
Former Senator Marco Rubio, also a Republican from Florida, had previously championed the bill, introducing it for the first time in 2018 and reintroducing it in 2021. The Senate passed the bill in 2022, but it never reached a vote in the House.
Source: npy.org by Chandelis Duster