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When daylight saving time ended last month, many Mainers understandably complained about the darkness that now descends on the state at about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. So, it is not surprising that there is a general sentiment in favor of ending the twice-yearly clock changes that usher most Americans in and out daylight saving time.
Now, the debate about ending these semi-annual time changes is gaining new momentum as the heads of President-elect Donald Trump’s new government efficiency group, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have suggested in social media posts that they are in favor of such a move.
The two referenced the annoyance and inefficiency of the clock changes, which happen in March and November. But it is unclear what changes they would make, such as making daylight saving time year-round or eliminating it altogether.
There have been proposals in Maine to end daylight saving time and to make it year-round. The U.S. Senate, inadvertently it appears, passed a bill by unanimous consent in 2022 to make make daylight saving time year-round. The legislation stalled in the U.S. House after lawmakers more fully considered the negative consequences of such a change.
It is easy to hate the spring and fall time changes, but it is worth remembering why they happen.
As David Prerau, an internationally known expert on daylight saving time (who knew such experts existed?), wrote in a column published last year by the Bangor Daily News: Daylight saving time is a good compromise. Simply put, we can’t create more sunlight during a 24-hour period, so the question becomes when we want that light, in the early morning or in the late afternoon and evening.
Daylight saving time is an artificial construct to extend daylight later into the evening. But, as Prerau wrote, having the sun set later in the day has more benefits than earlier sunrises.
With more light at the end of the day in the spring and summer, people get outside more, crime is reduced and energy consumption is lowered. This latter consideration was the reason that daylight savings time was extended by Congress in 2007. If the “extra” daylight were at the beginning of the day, which is what would happen if we stuck with standard time year-round, most people would sleep through it.
We’ve had this debate before. In 1973, President Richard Nixon signed a year-round daylight saving time bill into law. The rationale then was to help ease the energy crisis, and there was broad public support for the change, which began in January 1974.
After going to work and sending children to school in the dark, the public quickly changed its mind. The U.S. Department of Transportation found the change may have produced electricity savings but increased gas consumption. Year-round daylight saving time was abandoned in less than a year — before the next cold, dark winter began.
Yes, switching the clock back and forward twice a year is a bit annoying — and there are small, short-term health impacts. But that annoyance should not be a reason to abandon a long-term compromise without fully understanding the consequences. Our twice-a-year time changes reflect a reasonable tradeoff that allows us to have as much daylight as possible when we want it, in both the winter and summer.
