On March 9, Americans completed the biannual change to daylight saving time, “Springing Forward” their clocks to be an hour ahead of standard time. In the following days, many were pleasantly surprised with the reminder that light can exist past 6 p.m. Spirits were lifted as kids no longer left their after-school activities in pitch dark, people drove home from work in the warm sun, and Oregonians saw hope for an end to their seasonal depression. The following weekend felt long and beautiful, with the memories of normal-length days flooding back. Birds chirped and the sunset shone bright through wispy clouds. If not for the savior of daylight savings, these special moments would have been tainted by the gloom of early darkness.
According to CBS, recent polls have found that nearly 80 percent of people want to end the antiquated practice of biannual clock changes, with 46 percent agreeing to the idea of shifting an hour of daylight from the morning to the evening. “I would rather have an hour of daylight in the evening so you can do things later in the day,” said sophomore Kai Plumbo. “I’m not much of a morning person, anyway.”
Federal law still prohibits states from enacting permanent daylight saving time, however, the Sunshine Protection Act has been a bill regularly introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, beginning in 2018. The bill would abolish clock changes nationwide and establish permanent daylight savings time. Rubio has called the biannual time change an “entirely unnecessary” and an “antiquated” practice. If enacted, Americans may have to start their work days in the dark, however, an extra hour of daylight will be added to their evenings, making their days feel brighter and longer.
So far this year, no progress has been made on the Sunshine Protection Act by the U.S. Congress, despite the act passing through the Senate in March 2022 with unanimous approval. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 19 states have already passed resolutions to support the permanent daylight saving time if Congress approved the change, including Oregon. Even our own state senator Rod Wyden has mentioned his support of the bill, calling for “a stop to the twice-a-year time-change madness.” If daylight savings is made permanent, the joy of feeling the sun on your face or driving home from school underneath a clear blue sky will no longer be restricted to just a few months out of the year.
