March 2019

Spring Forward 2019 in Europe is this Weekend, but Change is Coming!

March 30, 2019

It’s the weekend for the “Spring Forward” clock change in Europe. Everyone in all of the 28 member states set their clocks forward this weekend, and face the harsh reality of the alarm clock waking them up an hour earlier than their body is expecting on Monday morning.

(If you are in Europe, please think about going into work late on Monday, and #SleepInForSafety!)

And while we in the U.S. have hope that we will be able to #LockTheClock and stop changing our clocks twice per year, in Europe they have a solid plan, and 2021 is when the clock changing will end.

Now, I should be the first to say that this is not the most pressing issue in Europe right now. The Brexit issue is overwhelming, and the other issues like the Article 13 copyright rules are important and not to be dismissed.

That said, this Monday in Europe will see a spike in heart attacks, strokes, traffic accidents, etc. The list goes on and on. So it was proper for the European Parliament to take up this issue, and I was glad to see that it passed so handily, 410 to 192.

So the argument that we should do nothing because there are other things we should do (probably the most common argument I hear, right after “The Farmers” as a reason not to fix the clocks) did not carry the day.

Maybe when Big Ben is fixed, the time will be fixed, too?
Photo by Guilherme Stecanella on Unsplash

And the parliament also did something that our U.S. Congress should take note of: They decided to give power to the individual countries. The year 2021 is the year that the clock-changing stops, and each country has until then to figure out what time zone it wants to stay in year-round.

(By the way, that is a PERFECT approach for the United States. Geography and parochial interests play a part in this discussion. What’s best for Maine may not be the best for Nevada.)

What really made me laugh in the arguments in Europe was a claim that somehow the Parliament wanted to be “Time Lords” by saying that we should not change the clocks twice per year.

“You would think they had other things to worry about without wanting to become time lords,” [John Flack] said, in an apparent reference to the BBC sci-fi drama Doctor Who.

So, right now the government makes us change clocks twice per year, but somehow ending that barbaric practice makes the government more of a Time Lord? I think it’s just the opposite.

As I told The New Yorker, the very concept of “time” is an agreement among people, just as is “government.” It seems like a good goal for both is to keep the health and safety of the people in mind first of all. If we know that changing clocks is bad for people — and we do — then stopping the practice of being a Time Lord twice per year is exactly the right thing for government to do.

So, good luck to my friends in Europe, especially those in England, where losing an hour of sleep seems like exactly the wrong thing at this perilous moment in history. Get as much sleep as you can, and know that we are all pulling for the right thing to happen for you with your government, and with your time, and we in the U.S. hope to follow your example and #LockTheClock.

Tipping Point for Fixing Daylight Saving Time (Summertime)?

March 17, 2019

Did we just reach the tipping point?

Is the point at which Daylight Saving Time has reached its conclusion now all but inevitable?

I’d like to think so.

And how will we know what tipped it? Is that sort of thing knowable?

I mean, can we just call up Malcolm Gladwell and ask?

Hey, Malcolm, I know you figured out how Hush Puppies were not cool, and then at some point became cool, but did you know it at the time that the shoes past the Tipping Point? Are we there yet with getting rid of the clock changing twice a year?

It is something I’ve been thinking about a lot of late. Of course, we just passed one week since the change in the U.S., and my inbox was packed with lots of great news. (More on that below.)

I was in Berlin on business for the second half of the week, so had to experience some of that joy vicariously, but I did get to take a small jaunt out to find out about yet another problem with the clock changing.

If it is not clear, the part with the numbers rotates in the middle of the part that shows the 24 time zones. The time in Berlin was correct, but the time in New York, etc., showed 11:30 a.m., when it was actually 12:30 p.m. Because that center ring has just one hour for every time zone, there’s no way they could fix it.

Not the most important reason to fix Daylight Saving Time, (as it is called in the U.S., Canada, Australia, and a few others) and Summertime (in Europe), but it’s on the list, something that does not go unnoticed.

It really is a nightmare for all concerned https://t.co/wlqBPdHmUX

— Stuart Myles (@smyles) March 11, 2019

The good news is that there is lots of progress to report:

After my letter to the Michigan legislature, the committee there passed that bill out of committee, which is more than what happened when I went there in person! (Maybe they didn’t like my tie? More likely is that we have passed the Tipping Point, and Michigan doesn’t want to be left behind.)
New York had been looking at creating a study committee, following in the footsteps of Massachusetts that made a study last year. Well, now they have a bill that would skip the study and just put New York in Standard Time year-round, right now. Most people and most businesses say that they’d like to stay in Daylight Time year-round, but I’ve heard rumblings that the broadcast networks don’t like that. They want it to be dark out so everyone will go inside and sit on the couch and turn on the TV. The guy who is sponsoring the bill lives about as far away from New York City as a guy can live, in Niagara Falls, so who knows?
In Oregon, the governor said not just “yes” but “Hell, Yes” to the idea of year-round Daylight Saving Time.
Also from Oregon, the state’s senior senator, Ron Wyden, said publicly that he will support Marco Rubio’s bill to allow states to go to year-round DST right now. That’s big. Wyden is a Democrat, and we need bipartisan support for this thing to move forward.
A bunch of other states, including Utah where I’ve been working with legislators for years, got bills further through the process than they’ve ever gone before.

I don’t know what a tipping point smells like, but this sure smells like we are getting close to the end for changing the clocks!

#LockTheClock!

By the way, I haven’t sent out an email yet using my new tool. I won’t send one out for every post, maybe every handful of posts. If you would like to get on that list, you can do that here.

Welcome to the Daylight Saving Time fight!

March 7, 2019

If you are just finding this page for the first time because you are sick of changing clocks twice per year… Welcome!

My name is Scott Yates, and no less than Bob Vila just described me as the national leader on the effort to #LockTheClock. Thanks, Bob! The New Yorker said pretty much the same thing, but in a more literary, NewYorkerer, way.

It’s an honor that I wear proudly, even though when I first started five years ago I got a lot of funny looks. And while others have come and gone, I seem to be the only one still pushing this issue forward nationally. There are some great leaders working in individual states, but I seem to be the only one stubborn enough to still be working it nationally.

With all the research out there now, it clearly is a legitimate public policy issue, and I think that’s why we now see a record number of states looking at the issue, 31 by my latest count. That doesn’t include Florida, which passed a bill last year and will move to Permanent DST as soon as the federal government makes that possible.

Still, I’m not humorless about it. Here are some previous collections of funny DST memes for the fall, DST cartoons, etc., for the spring, and this collection of DST and pop culture.

And here are some new ones, or at least new to me:

So, several quick things:

On Monday, you should absolutely tell your boss you are coming in an hour late, and you think everyone in your workplace should do the same because it is officially National Turn Off Your Alarm Clock Day. #SleepInForSafety.
If you are a person who hates the changes, and don’t know what you can do, well, just contact your state legislator. They love hearing from real people. If you need help with that, drop me a line and I’ll help you out.
If you hate the changes, but don’t want to get political, then at least join my Facebook page, or tweet about how you want to #LockTheClock.
If you think we should just switch by a half-hour and then stop the madness, that’s great. Just don’t think that you are the first person ever to come up with that idea and that if you just announce it that it will happen. It won’t.

So, welcome to the fight.

While the hashtag on Twitter, and the Facebook page are great, and I encourage you to do that, this page will be the hub of the activity.

With that, I recommend that you sign up for our email list so that I can send you a note from time to time with new posts, news about our victories, etc. (Don’t worry, I won’t spam you because I only have a free account on MailChimp, and I don’t want to pay, so I won’t be sending out a lot of emails!)

Your friend in fighting the clock changing,
I remain,
Yours,

-Scott Yates