What to Know
- The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time the new permanent time (no more time change)
- The U.S. Senate unanimously passed the legislation in March 2022, then allowed the bill to expire
- Sen. Marco Rubio then reintroduced the Sunshine Protection Act of 2023
You're not making it up. It has been slowly getting darker.
And now — it's about to get a whole hour darker.
Daylight saving time has Americans in every state except for Hawaii and Arizona moving their clocks an hour back on Sunday, Nov. 5 at 2 a.m. At that point, time will automatically switch back to 1 a.m. Magic!
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The morning of Nov. 5 will come with more light, and sunrise and sunset times will be about one hour earlier than the day before, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
Simply put, if you prefer more daylight, get outside earlier during this season, as the skies will only get darker until the Winter Solstice (the first day of winter) when daylight hours start growing again.
If you REALLY don't like DST, it might be worth considering moving close to the equator, where seasonal changes have little effect on the length of daylight, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
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Why the time change?
When you wake up on that Sunday, yawn, adjust your sleeping cap, and wind the long hand back an hour, you might wonder: Why are we still doing this?
Here's why.
If you're vaguely remembering something about a bill to stop the time change and make it permanent, it's not just your sleep-deprived brain talking.
The twice-yearly changing of the clocks is a ritual that's quite unpopular. Plenty of states have introduced legislation to provide year-round daylight saving time, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Here's an update on the battle to end it.
The battle to make daylight saving time permanent
Back in March 2022, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the "Sunshine Protection Act" introduced by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., that would have made daylight saving time permanent starting in November 2023, which means Americans would stop switching their clocks back or forward twice a year, according to NBC News.
That bill was stalled in the House and it expired.
However, Sen. Rubio reintroduced the "Sunshine Protection Act of 2023" on March 2 to make daylight saving time permanent across the nation.
Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla. also introduced a bill in the House to make daylight saving time permanent, according to NBC News.
Senators from various states are all original cosponsors of Sen. Rubio's legislation, including California Sen. Alex Padilla and the late Dianne Feinstein.
The House of Representatives must first pass the bill, then President Joe Biden must sign it before Americans can kiss the time change goodbye.
A study published in Cell Press in 2020 found that springing forward each year increases the risk of fatal traffic accidents by 6%. The University of Michigan found a 24% increase in the number of heart attacks that occurred on the Monday just after the time switch, compared to other Mondays.
Didn't Californians vote to remove daylight saving time in 2020?
Yes, Californians did. So why are we still changing our clocks then?
San Diego denizens might remember voting on California's Proposition 7 in 2018.
That proposition passed by nearly 60% of the vote, giving the California Legislature the ability to change daylight saving time, according to Ballotpedia.
Proposition 7 didn't actually change daylight saving time, it just gave the state Legislature the ability to actually change it, IF they earn a two-thirds vote on it and IF the federal government already allows it.
Would removing the time change do anything?
Maybe. Maybe not! In the mid-70s, the U.S. had year-round daylight saving time, but that quickly became unpopular and was reversed.
Regardless of time change laws, the earth is still tilted on its axis at an average of 23.5 degrees, according to NOAA. That tilt is responsible for seasonal changes and thus the amount of sunlight you get where you live. Your location on the earth also affects how much sunlight you'll get in a year. Generally, the closer you are to the equator, the more sunlight you'll get throughout the year, NOAA says.
Can my state opt out of daylight saving time?
States are actually allowed to opt out of DST and remain in standard time year-round (as Hawaii and Arizona have done). But, they are not allowed to establish DST year-round, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
Where did daylight saving time come from?
Close to the end of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Standard Time Act into law, putting daylight saving time into effect for the first time in the U.S. in March of 1918, according to the Library of Congress. The move was intended to save energy costs during WWI.
About one year later, the law was repealed due to the war's end, according to NBC Bay Area.
In World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt instituted a year-round daylight saying time in February 1942 he called "war time." That DST lasted until Sept. 30, 1945.
When the Uniform Time Act was passed in 1966, standard time was mandated across the country within established time zones. However, states could still opt out.
When the 1973 oil embargo hit, America needed to conserve energy. Thus, President Richard Nixon signed year-round DST (the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act) into law, hoping to ease the national gas crisis.
Congress enacted a trial period of all-year DST from January 1974 to April 1975.
The time change was unpopular. Eight Florida children died in traffic accidents that were linked to the time change, according to NBC News.
Permanent daylight saving time was reversed in October 1974 by President Gerald Ford.
