Image Credit: Mike Licht / CC
The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Tennessee supports the establishment of year-round daylight saving time, having introduced legislation that addressed the issue earlier this year. One of 28 states that is in favor of switching permanently, Tennessee must now wait until the U.S. House takes a vote on creating a federal law that would allow states to observe daylight savings all year long.
In March, the U.S. Senate voted to pass the Sunshine Protection Act of 2021 unanimously, but the bill now waits for the House to take it up, and that may not even happen this year. Even if were to pass the House this year, it would not go into effect until next November.
Tennessee’s legislation that would rid the state of the bi-annual time shift was signed into law by Governor Bill Lee in 2019.
Regardless of where Congress stands on the issue presently, Tennesseans will “fall back” once more this Sunday at 2 a.m when daylight saving time ends almost everywhere in the U.S.
Two states currently do not observe DST – Hawaii, and (most of) Arizona. The following U.S. territories also do not change their clocks – American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
The U.S. has actually tried staying on DST before. In 1973, during the energy crisis, President Richard Nixon signed a bill that put the whole of the United States on daylight saving time for 2 years. That law went into effect January 6th, 1974.
Just like today, the majority of Americans liked the idea of not having to change the clocks twice a year or having to deal with the usual frustrations and confusion that oftentimes ensues.
However, there was a downside. Initial enthusiasm for doing away with DST waned once Americans realized that the sun didn’t come up until 8 a.m. or later in the middle of winter and in some parts of the country, later meant close to 9:30 a.m.
Support for the new law decreased so rapidly that by October of 1974, Congress changed their minds and put the country back on standard time four months out of the year.
The practice of daylight saving time initially began during World War I when Germany introduced it as a way to stretch daylight hours in order to conserve power and fuel in 1916.
Two years later, the U.S. followed suit, mostly abandoning the practice after the war was over.
According to the Department of Transportation whose purvue DST falls under, says that it saves energy, prevents traffic accidents, and reduces crime.
A study published in the peer-reviewed journal Current Biology in 2020 however, found that the risk of fatal traffic accidents actually increased by 6% in the U.S. during the spring transition to DST.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
3 Responses
Is this country hell-bent on repeating every mistake of the 20th century? Communism was a miserable failure, so let’s do it again. WWI and II were awful, so let’s do that again. And now – Year-round daylight saving time was an unmitigated disaster, so let’s do that again?
Just Google the subject and read what a failure it was. I’m old enough that I remember. After 8 schoolchildren died in the morning darkness, it thankfully was repealed.
If you don’t want to change the clocks, year-round STANDARD time would be better, but no law is going to change the fact that it’s DARKER in WINTER.
I agree with you on keeping Standard Time instead if the clocks are to be changed. Sure, it’s nice to have daylight linger a bit longer, but keeping Daylight Savings Time isn’t safe during the morning hours in winter especially in more northern states – Tennessee included. Kids are already waiting in the dark for school buses.
I’m in favor of going back to regular standard time permanently. I think it’s unnatural to have it stay light so late in the summer. Humans need sleep and staying up late isn’t good for us. I never have liked DST. Winter is supposed to be darker anyway. God made time and seasons for a purpose. We must adjust ourselves to Him.