As most know by now, in addition to Halloween and a tough loss in football against Ole Miss, last Saturday, Oct. 31, daylight saving time ended.
When daylight saving time begins, we set our clocks ahead one hour from the standard time each spring, usually around the first week in March. When daylight saving time ends, as it did last weekend, we set our clocks back, meaning we “gain” an hour.
This practice of setting our clocks ahead one hour started about a century ago.
Many people believe daylight saving time was adopted to benefit farmers, but this is not the case.
The main purpose of implementing daylight time was to save energy by saving daylight in the summer months, but it has been proven that changing the time is not an effective way to do so, and possibly never was.
“When clocks leap forward in the spring, researchers have found, rates of heart attacks, traffic accidents, and workplace injuries tend to increase slightly — likely the effect of millions of people’s bodies being forced to adjust to the missing hour of sleep,” according to Vox.com. “Workplace productivity, meanwhile, tends to decrease. Then there’s the hassle of adjusting again in the fall.”
Many places across the globe, including the states of Arizona and Hawaii, have decided not to participate in daylight saving time.
Rusty Glover, a Republican Alabama State Senator from Mobile, has attempted to pass legislation in which the state of Alabama would keep daylight saving time year-round. As a result, we would have more daylight in the evening hours and would never change the time.
However, according to AL.com, Glover realized that federal law allows states to opt out of daylight time, but does not allow states to keep it all year.
He also told AL.com that while many real estate agents and retailers liked his idea, he had difficulty getting other lawmakers to help change the law that the U.S. has been practicing since 1918 because of issues with balancing the budget.
Even though changing legislation to make it possible for states to keep daylight saving year-round if they choose may not be a priority for many legislators, we agree with Glover that it should be done.
While the disadvantages of daylight time are obvious, the benefits are nonexistent, making the concept pointless.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
