Daylight saving time year-round? Careful what you wish for, Sunshine State | Opinion

President-elect Donald Trump’s allies have re-ignited a long debate that transcends partisanship in America: What to do about the much-hated, twice-a-year ritual of changing the clock between standard and daylight saving times.

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, tapped by Trump to run the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, have floated the idea of ending the time shifts that happen in the spring and fall.

“Looks like the people want to abolish the annoying time changes!” Musk wrote on X, linking to an informal poll by another user that found more than 80% of respondents want to get rid of daylight saving time, which shifts the clock one hour forward in March.

If America reconsiders the clock changes that are linked to an increased risk of adverse health impacts — and make people drowsy and cranky for days — which way should we go?

Florida has already picked a direction.

A 2018 law declares that the Sunshine State will only observe daylight saving time, also known as “spring forward.” Other states, such as Colorado, have passed similar legislation.

However, that change can only happen with authorization from Congress. A bipartisan bill co-sponsored by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott of Florida to create permanent daylight saving time cleared the U.S. Senate but was never brought up for a vote in the House.

“The practice of changing our clocks has outlived its purpose. Yet, we continue to fall back and spring forward... It is time to Lock the Clock,” Rubio wrote in a 2023 news release.

It may seem like a no-brainer that Florida — the Sunshine State — should always be in daylight saving time when sunsets happen later. Supporters say people feel more motivated to be outside, exercise, go shopping and support local businesses. The longer afternoons are good for public safety and would prevent a drop in economic activity from clock changes.

We love our long summer afternoons as much as any Floridian, but the switch to permanent daylight saving time has drawbacks. In fact, the U.S. tried that experiment in the 1970s in an attempt to save energy but walked it back.

Congress in 1974 rescinded year-round daylight saving time after just 10 months following public frustration, reports of children being hit and killed by cars during predawn walks to school, and grumpy morning commuters. A headline in the Washington Post declared at the time: “Daylight time is like darkness time.”

Because if sunsets happen later, so do sunrises.

A Washington Post analysis found that, if Florida switched to permanent daylight saving time, the latest sunrise in Miami-Dade would be 8:10 a.m. instead of 7:37 a.m. under the current system and 7:10 a.m. under permanent standard time. Sunrise in Florida’s Panhandle would happen as late as 8:37 a.m. That’s way past the opening of several businesses, school bus pick-up hours, and early morning commuting.

If the entire nation observed daylight saving time year-round, parts of North Dakota would have winter sunrises as late as 9:47 a.m.

Of course, the trade-off would be hours of sunlight later in the day. In Miami-Dade, sunset would happen no earlier than 6:31 p.m., the Post found.

However, there’s growing evidence evidence that longer afternoons are detrimental to human health. More evening sunlight can affect the body’s circadian rhythm, which regulates sleep, by delaying the surge of hormones that tell us it’s time to go to bed.

Some health organizations —among them the American Academy of Sleep Medicine — agree the U.S. should stop changing the clock but, instead, it should remain in standard time permanently (meaning, we never “spring forward”). Most of Arizona, U.S. territories and Hawaii have already done that.

“Current evidence best supports the adoption of year-round standard time, which aligns best with human circadian biology and provides distinct benefits for public health and safety,” the Academy of Sleep Medicine wrote in a 2020 position statement.

If Musk and Ramaswamy use their political clout to end our time-changing system, year-round daylight saving time would, no doubt, be a popular idea in Florida. But Floridians should also consider the consequences.

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This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 3:00 AM.