Should we stop changing clocks twice a year? | Pro/Con

Whenever it’s time to change the clocks, people have strong opinions. Some are happy for the extra light, but not everyone is — including parents and farmers, since young kids and animals don’t tell time.

The U.S. Senate has opinions about changing the clock, too. This month, it unanimously passed a bill to keep the country forever in daylight saving time. If this becomes law, we would stop changing our clocks in 2023.

We asked two people to weigh in: Is it time to stop changing the clocks?

By Bethany Watson-Ostrowski

If I had a dollar for every time I’ve cursed the lunacy of springing forward and falling back, I could buy something epic, like a big parade to celebrate the final, legislative nail in the coffin of daylight saving time.

To be abundantly clear, I love the “daylight saving” part, where we can actually enjoy the sun at the end of a long day cooped up indoors. That time of year feels relatively carefree. My girls can let loose at the playground after school, and my husband can tinker with the car in our driveway after work or tackle some random outdoor chore (OK — not that he wants to, but he can).

It’s the falling back part that blows. It always makes me recall the classic — yet incredibly depressing — short story by Ray Bradbury: “All Summer in a Day.” The protagonist, 9-year-old Margot, moved from planet Earth to gray, desolate Venus — where the sun comes out for only one hour every seven years. And her classmates are the worst. Plot twist? They lock her in a closet so that she misses her chance to bask in the sun when it finally arrives.

When the higher-ups decided our sunlight would peace out at about 4:30 p.m., it’s like they locked us all in the closet, too.

Of course, the longer stretch of sun in the afternoon means that the early mornings are darker for longer, too. I don’t care. Sunny afternoons are better than sunny early mornings. Die mad about it. Here’s why:

“Sunny afternoons are better than sunny early mornings. Die mad about it.”

And here’s a fist bump to the bleary-eyed parents of small minions whose internal clocks don’t follow the news — and who probably can’t tell time anyway. The ones on a still-dark Sunday morning in November, bouncing off the walls (”For all that’s holy, the clock says it’s 5 a.m.! Why can’t you understand!”). Shout-out to parents coaxing grumpy tweens and teens out of bed during the spring — the ones who went to bed at the normal time and now have to rise and shine an hour early. And hugs to that stressed-out, leptin-deprived mom whose tired, cranky kids made her miss breakfast, so she shoved down two Tastykake Chocolate Juniors from the vending machine. (Don’t judge me.)

Sleep hygiene is not to be taken lightly, and time changes can even impact our collective health and safety. Doctors report that heart attacks increase during daylight saving time, with a 24% spike in ER visits the Monday following the spring time change.

» READ MORE: The U.S. Senate has approved year-round daylight saving time. Will it ever happen?

Sleepy people can also have more car accidents — in fact, drowsy driving can be about as dangerous as drunk driving. It’s no surprise that fatal car crashes jump by 6% during the week following the switch to daylight saving.

Even adding an hour of sleep in the fall, while it may feel delicious temporarily, throws off our circadian rhythms — the natural, internal clock that regulates the body’s systems and processes. Disrupted circadian rhythms can lead to depression, obesity, a taxed immune system, and loss of focus.

I’m all for removing the pendulum and making daylight saving time permanent, all year long. Thankfully, most people — including our U.S. Senate — agree.

Bethany Watson-Ostrowski is the founder of Wordsmith Writing Co. and lives in Cheltenham.

By Lyle Beckwith

For decades, my organization has supported setting clocks ahead earlier in the spring. The reason is simple: It enables us to maximize the light we have at all times of the year. This is the same reason we set different time zones across the country: so that each region can make the best use of the daylight it has.

Daylight saving time should more appropriately be called “daylight optimization time” because that’s really what it does. A prime benefit of switching the clocks this time of year is that it may help reduce energy consumption. This makes sense: When you optimize the time of sunlight when people are up and about, you minimize the amount of electricity that they use — which is no small matter when oil prices are a big concern.

People have concerns about having it stay dark too late into the morning during winter and, on the other hand, want daylight to last later in the day during spring and summer. All of those concerns are legitimate, and that has led us to the current policy in which we switch our clocks twice a year to optimize the time.

The Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent — so the clocks would stay at the time they are now, providing more daylight to enjoy the outdoors during warmer weather.

We tried this before, in the 1970s, and it didn’t stick. Come winter, the sun didn’t rise until well after 8 a.m., meaning that many children were waiting for the school bus in the dark.

“We tried this before, in the 1970s, and it didn’t stick.”

Given that the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Sunshine Protection Act, it looks like we will be sticking to one time throughout the year. If so, it would be better to use daylight saving time.

My organization represents roughly 150,000 convenience stores in the country, which conduct an estimated 165 million transactions every day. We serve half of America on a daily basis, and we see how Americans go about their daily business.

When we move to daylight saving time, it stays sunny later in the day, so people feel as though they have more time after work to engage in a range of activities that are good for them and the economy, such as eating out, shopping, and participating in outdoor activities — everything that we long for after a long winter (or two long years of COVID-19).

» READ MORE: 10 things to love about our clocks falling back even if you hate it

This is good for local businesses and for jobs. Studies show that there can be dramatic increases in economic activity when daylight hours are shifted later in the day through daylight saving. One study compared spending changes when daylight saving started and stopped in Los Angeles with spending in Phoenix, which does not observe daylight saving time. The result was clear: Spending increased in Los Angeles when daylight saving started and decreased when it ended.

For the convenience industry, specifically, we see higher sales during daylight saving time. Our analyses show that the change to daylight saving time boosts sales by about $5 billion. Those are big numbers, particularly in an industry dominated by small businesses that operate with tight profit margins.

Daylight saving time is even associated with fewer car accidents. This, too, makes sense: Darkness increases the danger of accidents and fatalities, so increasing light hours into the evening may help reduce accidents.

Whatever we decide to do (or not do) with our clocks, we should keep these points in mind and ensure that we use the daylight that we have in the best way possible.

Lyle Beckwith is senior vice president of government relations for the National Association of Convenience Stores.