This past week temperatures climbed up into the 70s. Now with sunlight lingering longer, stretching the days a bit more, Spring is surely upon us, along with the Vernal Equinox. It’s that time in late winter where we’re programmed to move our clocks one hour ahead. Daylight Saving Time officially kicks in at 2 a.m. this Sunday, March 11, when clocks will be set forward one hour. Thus the phrase — Spring forward, Fall back.
When clocks are set forward, everyone loses sleep. But then, “early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, or supposedly so sayeth Ben Franklin. Whether to save on burning candles or to save on fuel, DST gained use in the U.S. throughout the early 1900s. Congress formally adopted the Standard Time Act in 1918, establishing standard time zones and set DST to begin at the end of March. This newfangled time saving idea proved unpopular and was quickly abolished over a veto by then President Woodrow Wilson.
Fast forward to the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which was pushed by the transportation industry to regulate time zones across the country. The act was opt-in for states and established DST on the last Sunday in April, when participating states would move their clocks forward. Clocks would fall back on the first Sunday in October. Make sense. This tradition continued until the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (which actually took effect in 2007) extended DST four weeks each way — spring forward on the second Sunday in March and fall back on the first Sunday in November. That makes it lighter later for Halloween. All clear?
Only Arizona and Hawaii don’t observe DST these days.
Mostly DST prevents the sun rising at 4:30 a.m. summer mornings; while gaining daylight for those shorter winter days. The pros are more daylight and longer evenings. The cons are DST is a human construct built mostly on economics and our desire to standardize and regulate. Resetting clocks twice a year is kind of disruptive. Perhaps we should just let the sun shine and Mother Nature will set the clocks.
Sun Dial Image Source
