The clock changes for Daylight Saving Time are — like the debate itself — mixed bags.
- In the Fall we all like the extra hour of sleep but then we don’t like going home from work in the dark.
- In the Spring we like the extra daylight at the end of the day, but we don’t like losing an hour of sleep.
So the one we hate/love (as opposed to the one we love/hate) is coming up soon and I realized I have so many things to update this site with. Here they are, in no particular order.
Research
I added a new and super clear paper to the research page of this site showing a clear reduction in violent crime during Daylight Saving Time.
That is the second paper I put on that page from Adam Cook. The first showed an overall reduction of premature deaths in DST. Great work, Dr. Cook!
State Progress
I pay a little less attention to the states than I used to. As you can see from the map on the home page, that battle is kind of already won. A majority of states have passed something saying that they would like to be in permanent Daylight Saving Time. In a nation so divided, I find it hopeful that so many states, red and blue, have spoken so clearly and consistently.
This year a few of the states that haven’t yet joined the club may come on in.
A handful of states have bills that would put the state in permanent Standard Time, which I support, but as in years past, none of those bills look likely to pass.
Federal Progress
Not sure what I can say here. Last year I was able to convince the members of the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee to adopt my language for a two-year phase in of locking the clock, but the bill itself seems stuck and given the miasma that is Congress these days, I don’t have a lot of hope for this year.
I did see that an idea that approximately a gazillion people have written to me about — changing the clocks a half-hour and calling it the new time — has appeared for the first time in proposed legislation. No cosponsors, no real interest that I can see, and probably no chance of getting a hearing, but hey! The idea is now out there and maybe all the people that write to me with that idea can instead now write to Greg Steube, a Republican Florida Man.
Media
Here are some interviews from the Fall that I never got around to posting. All great, except for me looking quite palid.
Also this great story last fall from Chicago, which I can’t embed, and my video was bad anyway. But the points were there and Scott Schneider does a great job on this topic.