Time Change Weekend! Is The Tradition Ending?
This weekend, Sunday, November 6th we fall back to Standard time in Montana. For some, it makes getting up in the morning easier as the trick with the clock seems to make the sunrise early, but the sunsets sooner with darker afternoons into the winter months. Moving back and forth seemed to be harder on our bodies. Statistics noted more heart attacks and traffic accidents on the Monday following a change.
Could this be the last time?
Is 2022 the sunset of this lightning rod of a tradition? Spring Forward! Fall Back! Has had its Foes and Champions as long as it's been in use. Daylight Saving Time was first used as a fuel conservation effort in World War I and adopted again year-round during World War II for similar reasons. In the early 1970s, America faced an energy crisis, so Congress passed a law to make Daylight Savings Time permanent year-round, but just for two years. Could we do it again?
This past March, the Sunshine Protection Act was passed in the Senate which would basically keep the U.S. in daylight saving time. That bill passed with unanimous consent. An interesting article from Buzzfeed News talks about that process. Some senators did not know about the bill and would have objected to it, but as of now, it moves forward to the House where it has to be considered and has to be voted on before a new Congress is installed in January. They don’t seem to have the urge to do that.