If you are like me, you dread having to change your clocks twice each year (especially the VCR). In fact, fewer than one in five Americans favor our current system of switching to daylight savings time (DST). Last week the US House of Representatives passed HR 139, the Sunshine Protection Act of 2025. This legislation would require most of the country to permanently stay on DST. This bill has now moved to the Senate for action. Opinions on DST vary, but most favor establishing regular standard time as the national system. DST benefits retail businesses, evening leisure industries, and outdoor recreation groups by driving consumer spending after work. At the same time, it is not beneficial to individual health or agricultural endeavors. Extra evening daylight gives people more time to shop, dine out, and visit entertainment venues on their way home. Businesses selling sports equipment, barbecue goods, and gardening supplies see higher sales during the long sunny evenings. Extra daylight during peak evening commute hours lowers rates of street crime and reduces certain types of traffic crashes. Regular standard time, however, is much healthier than daylight saving time. Medical groups like the American Academy of Sleep Medicine state that standard time matches our body clocks better. Standard time gives us bright morning sun, which helps set our internal daily clock. It makes it easier to fall asleep and wake up at the right time. Studies have also shown that staying on standard time lowers the risk of obesity, strokes, and heart issues compared to shifting or staying on daylight saving time. Dark winter mornings make it hard for people — especially children — to wake up and go to school safely. DST disrupts agriculture rather than helping it. Farm operations follow the sun and natural routines, meaning clock shifts mismatch animal biology, morning harvest schedules, and supply chain coordination. In December 1973, the US adopted year-round daylight savings time due to the energy crisis. Within ten months, the law was amended to revert to the current system. Among reasons for the change: children walking to school in pitch-black darkness, morning traffic accidents spiked and caused child fatalities, public approval crashed from 79% down to 42% in just ten months, and there were no significant energy savings. It is time to end this disruptive practice and create permanent standard time. Contact Senators McCormick and Fetterman and urge them to oppose HR 139 and enact legislation to make standard time permanent.
David B. Kyle, New Columbia