Have you ever heard of the term “Daylight Savings”? Well soon, it may not even exist anymore. “Daylight Savings” is a plan that cycles every year and is run by several countries across the world in their respective time zones, including the United States of America. In this article we will go over how it works, why it was made, and what plans the U.S. government has for its future.
On March 19th, 1918, the former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson signed the Standard Time Act into law, establishing Daylight Savings in the United States. The purpose of imposing this plan at the time was to save fuel during World War I by extending daylight hours in the country. Later in 1919, due to struggling of a smooth transition with this new law it was appealed and removed until the second World War where it was brought back again for similar reasons. In 1966, the Uniform Time Act standardized the starting and ending dates of the DST while also giving the options for states to opt out. Around the time the U.S. started developing this plan, several other countries did the same and now about 70 countries in the world run this scheme.
The importance of daylight saving was previously necessary during the world wars but now a handful of critics argue that modern technology now makes it unnecessary. In the modern world daylight savings helps retail and tourism industries stay busy for more horses due to the extended daylight. Additionally, the scheme supports outdoor activities such as sports along with reducing traffic accidents. Some negative effects of this plan include disrupting sleep patterns which negatively affect help which even so, has not been proven to be significant. Farmers and other night-shift workers often oppose the DST as it takes away an hour of light for them for half the year. Clearly, the public opinions on the policy remain divided on its usefulness but what if the U.S. wanted to remove and end DST?
Going forward, if the United States ever wanted to end daylight savings, they would end the scheme so that there would be one hour more of daylight which occurs between March to September. The other half of the cycle going from September to March is when the nation has one hour less of sunlight which the majority of citizens argue against. Donald Trump has expressed interests of eliminating DST several times before even as several groups of Republicans support keeping the scheme. For the policy to be removed, Congress would need to approve any federal changes to DST and that would mean the Sunshine Protection Act would be fulfilled, ensuring one more hour of daylight throughout the half of the year where the scheme is not in use. When removed, there would be no change throughout the year between the time zones of the USA besides the standard differences like from PST to EST.
In conclusion, the policy of daylight savings had its importance for several years, especially during the world wars. Several groups of people who work late shifts would benefit from the elimination which would ensure extra daylight hours throughout the year. As of now, it is not clear whether or not Donald Trump and the U.S. government will take actions to eliminate DST but it is certain that the U.S. will need to adapt to this transition as the nation had to do when it was first established.