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Fix Daylight Saving Time for good!

End the Clock Changing

Fixing DST Just Took A Huge Step, Even If The Media Missed It

Look, I was a reporter for a long time, I get it. It’s hard to do a story substantially different than what everyone else is doing.

So let me make it really easy for everyone:

The cause of fixing Daylight Saving Time clock changing just took a ginormous step forward with the passage of a resolution in California calling for an end to changing the clocks twice per year. The California resolution is based on the model DST resolution I first published in February of 2015. 

If you look at the coverage of the work of the state legislature, the resolution passing may seem like something of a footnote to the news that a bill failed.

But the bill, as readers of this site know, was doomed long, long ago. That it died last week is not news. It was dead before it was introduced, it’s just that the people who saw the body moving around thought that it had a chance at life. It never did. 

The big news is that the resolution passed when the bill failed.

Now typically a resolution has no power, it’s just an honorary thing. That’s what makes it powerful! We now have proof of what I’ve been advocating for a long time on this blog: Legislators are going to have a tough time passing a bill that will probably violate Federal Law, but they’ll have no problem voting for a resolution because they think it will have no power.

But this resolution is special. It has a hidden superpower. This resolution is The Little Train That Could.

Just look at the votes this resolution got from the very handy Bill Track 50.

DST-vote-history

It was essentially unanimous in every single vote. Here is an issue that nearly everyone agrees on, regardless of party. Any legislator who has ever asked constituents about it will tell you that it is a huge issue that brings up great passions.

There was only one vote against the resolution in the California Senate from a guy named Jim Nielsen, who is the senator from the agricultural community of Gerber, in the north-central part of the state. Lots of agriculture there, and good for Nielsen for standing up for the farmers, even if he may be a bit off on the facts.

“Our crops have gotten accustomed to that. They’ve in fact been bred to deal with that longer harvest season,” Nielsen said while arguing against the bill. “Don’t fix something that’s not broken.”

He said that in his arguments against the bill, and his side won the day and they did kill that doomed bill.

Crops, meanwhile, may have been bred for a longer season, but DST doesn’t have anything to do with seasons, only with the hours in a given day.

But, while Nielsen’s arguments against the bill may have worked on the bill, they didn’t carry over to the resolution. There were 17 “no” votes on the bill, but only one “no” vote on the resolution, from Nielsen.

(Sen. Nielsen, if you are reading this… Most people think that DST was put in place to help the farmers, but that’s never been true. In the excellent book, Seize The Daylight, the author, David Prerau, dug up the history that farmers were against the change when DST was first proposed, but the big business interests in Boston claimed that the farmers liked it. I see here that you come from agriculture, so you know better than others that real farmers work from before sunrise until after sunset, no matter what the clock says. I understand your desire to represent agriculture, but you’ll do it best by helping the sons and daughters of farmers to have more daylight after school to be able to help out on the family farm while there’s still some daylight.)

(Oh, one other thing, Sen. Nielsen… DST is — in fact — “broken.” It was started by the Germans during WWI and it’s bad for kids, victims of crime, people with bad hearts, productivity, the environment… the list goes on and on. DST is broken, indeed.)

 

What’s Next for the DST Resolution?

So, now that this historic resolution has passed in California, what happens next?

Well, the only official thing that happens is that this resolution will get sent to Congress and the President.

Unfortunately, getting Congress to do anything right now is pretty much impossible.

So, I will personally make sure that the other state legislatures are aware of this.

But to win this fight, I may need some help.

  • If you are a citizen concerned about this, contact your local legislators and let them know that if they want to pass a resolution that can really help fix things — a resolution that already passed in California with huge bipartisan support — they can do that.
  • If you are a teacher, consider doing a unit on DST, and deliver the results of your students’ research and this model resolution to your legislature if you visit the state capitol, or if you have a legislator visit your class.
  • If you are a journalist, consider doing a story about this movement. Your readers care about this issue, and are interested in real solutions.

The legislators can write the resolution however they want, but they are certainly welcome to copy the model DST resolution from this site, or the California resolution, or they can start from scratch. As long as the intent of the resolution is that the legislature and the state express a desire to end DST clock-changing, it will do the trick. If you think the people of your state for one reason or another want standard time year-round, you are welcome to advocate for that, but for nearly every state you’ll find that year round Daylight Saving Time will always be the most popular. Looking at the maps as much as I have, I really think only Michigan could potentially make the case that they’d be better off staying in Standard Time, which would essentially mean they’d join the same time zone as Wisconsin when the country switches to permanent Daylight Saving Time.

The only thing that I think is off about the California proposal is that it lacks an instruction to send the approved copy to the other states who have yet to pass such a resolution. Right now that’s all of them, except for Arizona and Hawaii, which are grandfathered in to staying on the same time year-round. But as I said, I’ll be doing all I can to make sure the other states all know about this resolution.

 

Change is hard. It takes a time and work, but thanks to Representative Jay Obernolte, the Assembly and Senate of California, it will be just a bit easier to push for change that can make a difference for the entire country.

Is this the beginning of the end for DST clock-changing?

The California legislature took a huge step toward fixing Daylight Saving Time Monday, and nobody really understood it.

Well, with the exception of readers of this blog.

A committee of the California Senate heard two proposals related to DST. Both passed, but only one of the proposals got any press.

That one is a bill, a well-meaning bill I’ve written about before. It passed out of the Senate committee, but from there it heads to another committee, and from there maybe to another committee and maybe to the floor of the Senate, where it will need two-thirds to pass. If it gets that, it will need to do the whole thing again in the California Assembly and then it will go to a vote of the people.

There’s almost no chance that will happen because of the business interests who want to keep more daylight in the summer evenings.

And, even if all that did happen and the voters of California passed it, there’s a non-trivial chance that the Federal DoT would overrule the will of the people and not allow the change because it takes away from the uniformity called for in the Uniform Time Act of 1967.

That’s why the bill from Kansen Chu is doomed.

The good news, and the news that’s so misunderstood because it is, admittedly, more complex, is that a joint resolution from Jay Obernolte also passed the same Senate committee.

This is the resolution that was already approved by a committee in the Assembly (that’s what California calls the lower body, what most states call the House) and by a vote of the full Assembly. It then went on to the Senate committee, where it passed unanimously on Monday. The bill from Sen. Chu had some “no” votes; it still passed but the fact that it had “no” votes is a sign of the problems it will face down the road.

Obernolte’s resolution, however passed unanimously, and has sailed through every vote it’s faced.

And the interesting thing is that the Senate committee did not decide to send it to yet another committee, it decided to send it to the floor of the Senate for a final vote.

Resolutions, you see, are the voice of the legislature, and so they do not require a vote from Governor Jerry Brown.

So this resolution that passed the committee Monday, a version of the one first introduced on this site, is one vote away from passage.

Now, it would be easy to say that this resolution won’t go anywhere even if it does pass, but I think this one will be different.

Why?

California is California. It’s the largest state in the union and people pay attention. Similar efforts to this have been attempted in smaller states, and didn’t get much traction. I think part of the reason is that smaller states didn’t want to appear… well… weird. This is a new idea, a new strategy, a new way of thinking. For a state like Arkansas or Missouri to be the leader, well, it’s understandable why they wouldn’t want to be on the tip edge of the sword. 

Now a state legislator in any of the other states can stand up and say that he or she wants to do something to stick it to the feds, protect the health of the people of the state, and do it in a way that’s consistent with what other, larger, states are doing.

Also, because California is California, the Federal DoT may pay a little more attention when this falls into their laps.

So join me in congratulating Assemblyman Jay Obernolte on getting this resolution thisclose to victory. If and when that victory comes we’ll be that much closer to fixing this dumb DST clock-changing once and for all.

DST Videos and Memes – A Select Collection

Here’s every worthwhile Daylight Saving Time video and meme photo, all in one handy place:

This is probably the funniest video, and it wraps up so many of the great points. Excellent.

The sequel, as they say, is never as good, but this is still excellent:

John Oliver’s take is spot-on:

Here’s a good explainer video:

 And as for Daylight Saving Time memes… There are hundreds. First, here’s my contribution:

Hamilton-DST-Meme

 Here are some classics, adapted for DST, even if some of them erroneously put an “s” at the end of “Saving” Time:

Count_rugen_dst_sucks

DST-aint-meme

DST_way-early-meme

DST clock in car meme

DST-poop-meme

Ron-burgundy-daylight-savings

Daylight-savings-time-y-u-no-save-time

Starbucks-DST-meme

Ee-cards-dst-meme

Office-space-dst-meme

DST-cher-meme

Daylight-Savings-Time-Monday-Meme

Monday-after-daylight-savings-meme

Hope you enjoy these, and if you want to take the time to share a meme photo, maybe you want to take just a moment to try to fix all this crazy clock-changing?

Check out this site for ways that you can pitch in.

Thanks!

An Open Letter to Kansen Chu — Re: Daylight Saving Time

An open letter to Kansen Chu, member of the California Assembly.

Dear Kansen,

(I hope you don’t mind me calling you Kansen. As you are an engineer, so I’m assuming like other engineers you don’t stand on formality, and besides, “Dear Assemblymember” just sounds odd for people who don’t hang around Sacramento.)

First: Let me say congratulations. On behalf of those of us who’ve been laboring on this issue for a while, it’s wonderful to see the concerns about Daylight Saving Time get the kind of attention that only comes when an elected official from our most populous state gets involved. It’s fantastic.

And by the way, I don’t mean that flippantly. This is an issue that a huge swath of the population cares deeply about, and yet nobody seems to talk about it in any meaningful way. You are, and it’s just fantastic. (Twelve other states are looking into it so far this year, which is also great.)

Second: Be sure to thank your dentist. I read that he’s the one that suggested that you champion this topic. 

Third: Your dentist is right on the facts: Switching in and out of DST is not healthy. I’ve got a list of most of the research about DST here.

Fourth: I hope you don’t mind me numbering all the points. My hunch is that as an engineer, you’ll appreciate it, just as all your constituents will appreciate the time not jumping around so they can enjoy the moon behind the clouds on a spring evening without losing an hour of sleep.

Daylight saving time night time

Fifth: You told a reporter that your interpretation of the federal law is that California could switch to Standard Time, and not go to year-round DST. That is certainly a reasonable interpretation, but it may not be right. Nobody has ever formally asked the Feds to move into permanent DST since the passage of The Uniform Time Act of 1966. All the approved changes have been to make time more uniform across the four time zones.

I understand why you have the interpretation that you do, and you may be right, but it is far from settled. I wrote about this a year before you knew it was even an issue.

The legality seems to be tied up not in which time zone you are in, but if that time zone is uniform with the rest of the country. California essentially being in its own time zone decreases uniformity, so will probably be denied, even if the people vote for it.

Sixth: Even if it wasn’t doomed by the Feds, your effort in its current form will be doomed by big business.

In short, all the money in this fight does not want Standard Time year round. The farmers did not want DST after World War II, it was the golf industry, and that industry will certainly fight you on this. Also, the lawn care industry, those who sell patio furniture, the recreation industry, major league and little league baseball — all of these and plenty more have a lot of money tied up in longer summer evenings.

Don’t be surprised if some of your old “friends” from the restaurant industry contact you soon and urge you to drop this, as earlier darkness means fewer trips out to eat.

Pretty much the only industry I’ve been able to find that supports year-round Standard Time is broadcast TV, which wants it dark early so people will go inside and watch television.

Seventh: Do NOT take points five and six as evidence that I’m against you. I’m not. I’m totally in favor of doing anything that shakes things up. If you can get this passed, I’ll be cheering more loudly than anyone. I want this, it’s just that the path of getting a proposal passed by both houses of the legislature, signed by the governor and then approved in a statewide ballot is a long and difficult path, especially given that you’ll have business and the federal government against you.

Eighth: If you call the federal DoT, and if the people there tell you what they’ve told other state legislators I’ve talked to, you’ll maybe be sad. Or if all the business interests tell you that you need to back off, maybe you’ll be sad. Or maybe if people start calling your proposal “depressing,” you will be depressed yourself.

Do not lose heart!!! You are fighting the good fight.

Ninth and final point (with its own numbered list): There is a way that you can turn this into a winning issue for you, for California, and for the whole country. Here’s how:

  1. Instead of a bill, with it’s long odds of success, offer instead a resolution. Now, you know better than most that resolutions don’t typically do very much, but this one would be different.
  2. This resolution would simply say that it is the wish of California that it would move to year-round DST, and that you want all other states to join you.
  3. That resolution would go to the other states, and the Feds.
  4. If two-thirds of the states pass the same resolution, the Feds could solve this with one ruling of the DoT, no Act of Congress needed because this will make the country more uniform under the current law.
  5. If you don’t like the wording of that resolution, which is a bit hyperbolic, I’ll write you a new one that’s more toned down, or you can write one yourself.

In short, Kansen, and to paraphrase Casablanca… Welcome to the fight. With you on board, I know our side will win!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Clock is Ticking on the Clock Changing

The fall change has come and gone. Because this is the easy change — the one where you get an extra hour — typically the press dies off pretty quickly.

Not this year. 

I’ve been paying close attention to this issue for years, and this year I really think the tide is turning.

Just take a look at some of the press, in no particular order:

Interactive Guide

Where to hate Daylight Saving Time. This is good data, no doubt, but I actually find it to be a distraction. It makes the assumption that things are better or worse for people depending on when the sun comes up and goes down relative to the clock. The problem there is that there’s never a perfect answer there, especially for people who live north of the equator.

Those flat maps give you a hint of the problem.

Dst_normal

 

The problem is easiest to see with the map on the right. See how the zones of darkness are kind of like cones, getting bigger as you go north? The lines would look straight if you looked at them on a globe, but because they are flat they look like that because there’s just not enough daylight to go around the further you get away from the equator.

DstRules The tool that this guy (Andy Woodruff) has created is awesome, no doubt about it, and you should check it out. But read the whole post, and you’ll see that he comes to the same conclusion that all people who spend any time studying the issue come to: Permanent DST is the biggest win for the most people.

Because there’s just no way to avoid a late sunrise in the mornings for everyone in the winter, the best thing we can do is give everyone a sunset after 5 p.m.

This is the only map that has all winners, and no losers, except for those in Alaska (of course), and a few hearty souls in the northern reaches of Idaho and Maine.

(And if those two states want to take advantage of the elimination of DST clock changing and move one time zone to the east, well, this would be a good time to do that.)

 Legislative Action

A guy who I’ve followed for a while now, Sen. Cliff Pirtle of New Mexico, recently announced that he’s going to be back with a resolution to get rid of the clock changing.

Good for him!

He’s realized that states simply won’t be allowed by the feds to change time zones on their own, so he’s going the route of a resolution. He’s close, but not quite there with the legislation that I’m recommending.

His resolution calls for New Mexico changing, and only New Mexico. The problem is that the federal Department of Transportation has as one of its conditions for allowing change the notion of “uniformity.” The law that it is enforcing is called the Uniform Time Act of 1966 (15 U.S.C. §§ 260-64). They want nice, even lines.

So I’ll be contacting Sen. Pirtle and asking him to consider changing his proposal just a bit to make it so that New Mexico won’t try to go it alone, but instead will be a leader in getting all states to fix this mess. (If you see this, Sen. Pirtle, and haven’t gotten my email, contact me!)

Nevada efforts stuck

A similar resolution passed in Nevada, but hasn’t done a lick of good, according to an excellent column from Patrick Everson. Here again, if Nevada next year can pass a resolution that joins Nevada to a national effort, maybe it will make a difference. It certainly can’t hurt, and it will only add to the effort in other states so that the whole country can get out of this mess.

Sick of the clock changing, eh?

Canadians have had it with changing the clocks in and out of DST, too, it appears from some news coverage.

They are frustrated, so they wanted to take action, but unfortunately the action they took is to create a petition. It always seems like such a good idea, until you do a search and realize that there’ve been at least 30 different petitions on change.org related to Daylight Saving Time. All of them have made an identical amount of difference: Zero.

Oh, Canada! If you want to make a real change, contact me and I’ll make a special version of the legislative resolution to fix DST that will work in the provinces. 

Someone’s got a smelly bottom, and it isn’t the baby!

It’s fun to joke and laugh about DST. I certainly have, and there’s lots of mirth to go around.

But it is a life-and-death issue. Car accidents. Heart attacks. Deadly crime. The research is all there that the clock changing, especially in the spring, is deadly.

So it makes me a bit cynical that the PR team at diapers.com would create a petition, a hashtag, a graphic and the works to try to “End Daylight Saving Time.” Sure, parents do get whacked twice a year trying to get good sleep for their family, and ending the clock changing is a great goal. (They screwed up on what they are asking for, which is common, but you’d think they would have researched it. What they want is NOT to “End Daylight Saving Time” but to end changing into and out of DST.)

But it’s clear from the campaign that it’s all about raising the profile of the diaper seller, and not actually fixing the problem.

If they wanted to fix it, they could help me with my legislative proposal. Instead, they just made a petition (see above for the futility of that) and they even insult our intelligence by making the petition out to “Leaders of the free world.” Whatevs.

Hey, diapers.com… If you really want to make a difference, contact me and I’ll show you how we can get something done. Until then, consumers know when they are being hustled, and this is one big stunt.

Other news

There’s been lots more, including new research showing that we could help decrease crime if we stayed in DST year-round, more research that clock-changing is bad for your health,  and more.

David Miles is starting a petition in Oregon. (David, great spirit, but that plan is not gonna work. Contact me, let’s get Oregon into this idea that can work.)

There’s much more I could do, but my word count is already over 1,000 and there’s only so much I can ask anyone to read. Have something you think I should cover? Just let me know!

Thanks for reading.

Fix DST permanently: A step-by-step plan for teachers

If you are a teacher, this post is for you.

The prerequisites for this plan of action are:

  1. An understanding of the basic concepts of Daylight Saving Time.
  2. Students who are willing to engage with local elected officials for non-partisan education.

The steps to participation are as follows:

  1. As appropriate for your students’ grade level, lecture about the history of Daylight Saving Time or ask the students to research the history and write a research report. Here’s a good start of research resources about DST.
  2. Once the research is done, gauge interest in trying to make a difference in ending DST clock-changing.
  3. If interest is sufficient, have the students research the plan presented on this site.
  4. If as a class, or as an independent project, students want to be part of the plan to change the law they should find their local state legislators from the state senate as well as the house or whatever the other body is known as. (Or in Nebraska, only the senators.) This tool usually works.
  5. The students should then ask for a meeting, either in the office of the legislator or ask that person or those people to come to the class to discuss the issue. (This is a guide put together by the Humane Society, but is applicable for most issues.)
  6. Introduce them to the concept, and then the model language, and tell them about the progress being made in other states using this language.
  7. Be sure to follow-up and thank the official.
  8. The best time to talk to a legislator is in the fall, before the legislative session begins.
  9. All state capitols have arrangements for tours for students during the legislative session. Be sure students know their legislators to arrange a brief meeting while visiting the statehouse.
  10. If your legislator introduces the model legislation, or some version of it, be sure to contact any and all local media to let them know about your support for the position and your role in sparking the discussion.
  11. Once the resolution is passed be sure to ask the legislator if you can be present for any bill-signing ceremony.

And of course, if you have any success at all, be sure to let us know via the contact info on this page and we’ll be sure to highlight your success on this blog.

Daylight Saving Time research — A comprehensive list

Studies on the harmful impacts of Daylight Saving Time

Books about Daylight Saving Time

Cover

 

Seize the Daylight, The Curious and Contentious Story of Daylight Saving Time, by David Prerau

 

 

 

 

SpringForward-cvr-thumb

 

 

Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving Time
Book by Michael Downing

 

 

 

Government links

US Department of Transportation

Federal Law

Twitter Accounts following DST issues

 

Other websites about Daylight Saving Time

 

 

 

It’s real now. Model Resolution now in play in one state. Is your state next?

Update in October, 2020: Welcome to this page. For some reason the search engines are sending a lot of traffic to this page, even though it’s more than five years old. For much more up-to-date info, check the Current DST Legislation page. And please be in touch!

 

A number of states have forward-thinking legislators negotiating the waters in their own states, but there’s now one state who’s taken the model resolution I wrote, and introduced it into the legislative process.

First alphabetically, and now first to introduce, is Alabama. Here’s a link to the resolution from the state site. Here’s a link to the summary on this resolution from a bill-tracking service. (Full disclosure, I’m a shareholder in that service.)

Here’s some coverage of that Resolution.

 

This is huge news.

Remember, this whole thing started as me just complaining about the difficulty of adjusting twice per year, and now it is officially a legislative initiative that could quickly spread to all of the 48 states that are currently stuck in the clock-changing rut.

Thanks to Sen. Glover for having the courage to go first.

If you, too, hate changing clocks twice per year and want to get involved, just find your representatives to the state legislature, and urge them to pass this resolution. Be sure to tell them it’s a resolution — not a law — which makes it much easier to get approved.

State lawmakers really do enjoy hearing from constituents, and with the time change this weekend and the deadly Monday Morning coming up, this is the perfect time to get involved.

If you happen to be reading this on Friday morning, March 6, tune in to HuffPo Live at about 10:15 a.m. EST, and be sure to join the conversation. The more we can show how much the people are tired of the clock-changing, the easier it will be to convince legislators to take action.

If you can’t tune in, go take this one-question poll from AccuWeather. When I took it public sentiment was more than two-to-one against the clock changing.

Screen Shot 2015-03-06 at 6.41.08 AM

See you on HuffPo Live!

It’s time to get rid of Daylight Saving Time Clock-Changing

With the Spring Forward change coming up soon, the attention to Daylight Saving Time is ratcheting up.

But it seems a bit different this year.

Typically the attention from the media and most people is to just get the instructions, and move on.

Then in recent years there’s been more a sense of bemusement about the time change. People that talk about sticking with one time zone year-round get a nice pat on the head and a bit of a laugh.

There’s no question that Daylight Saving Time is comedy gold. Historians think Ben Franklin was joking when he suggested moving the clocks around to increase productivity. 

Then this video that appeared last year was a huge hit, and justifiably so:

 

But I’ve noticed a subtle shift in the tone of the coverage and the sentiment this year. What is it?

Well, first there’s the coverage of the legal efforts to end the clock-changing.

At least a 14 states by my count have some kind of legislation in some level of discussion this year. The coverage is more sober than it’s been in the past. Before a typical story would begin with some trivial anecdote. Now the stories are more like this one from Alaska.

JUNEAU — A state Senate committee has advanced a bill that would exempt Alaska from daylight saving time, a measure that its sponsor said would be good for the health of state residents.

No bad puns. No winking references. Just a straight-up news story. 

And it’s correct, too. From heart attacks and traffic accidents to problems for diabetics and those with sleep issues, there’s no question that changing the clocks is a huge public health concern.

And with the serious nature of the proposal comes resistance that’s just as serious. A different Alaskan legislator is now fighting the proposed change.

Of course, the biggest opponent to change is the United States Government, specifically the Department of Transporation.

The feds try to make it clear that they control the time zones, not the states. One state learned this very clearly. Other states will find out their efforts on this are doomed soon enough.

But the progress in the coverage reminds me of the great quote:

First they ignore you.

Then they laugh at you.

Then they fight you.

Then you win.

 

First they ignore you, then they laught at you, then they fight you, then you win.

 

(It turns out that Gandhi probably never said that, but it’s still a great quote.)

How will we win?

It’s hard to say for sure. Congress certainly doesn’t seem to hold any hope.

The state legislation percolating around the country has some promise, but each one is probably doomed by the Federal Department of Transportation.

In my home state of Colorado, a band of citizens has gotten approval to collect signatures and get a measure on the ballot for people to vote on.

I support this measure, even though I worry that all that work may be for nothing if the Feds reject this the same way they reject every other state-based effort. Supporters of that movement think that it will be analogous to the marijuana initiative: Not consistent with what the feds want, but allowed to exist anyway. Maybe they are right.

Perhaps this is Stockholm Syndrome or something, but I actually think the Feds have a point in wanting uniformity of time zones in the whole country. I don’t want people in New York to have to figure out if Denver is two or three hours different depending on the time of year. The disruption to transportation is real.

But the clock-changing must end.

That’s why I’m so pleased that some legislators are now working to pass this Resolution to end Daylight Saving Clock Changing.

It’s deceptively simple, even more simple than my original plan of trying to get states to pass a law. With this plan legislatures simply voice an opinion, an opinion supported by the wide majority of their constituents.

And if enough states pass this resolution it may act as just the bump that the Department of Transportation needs to recognize that interstate commerce is best served by keeping the states uniform AND by not allowing a time change that dramatically increases traffic accidents.

The data from the New England Journal of Medicine about increased heart attacks is compelling, but I can see bureaucrats from the Department of Transportation ignoring that. “Not my department.”

But traffic accidents? Doesn’t the DoT have a mission to ensure that we have a safe transportation system? Yes! 

And does the science show irrefutably that the clock change creates an unsafe transportation system?

Yes again. The science about that last point is crystal clear, thanks to another Coloradan, a PhD candidate named Austin C. Smith, who used “regression discontinuity design” and other impressive-sounding techniques to prove that the sleep disruption and the sudden change of the sunrise and sunset relative to rush-hour simply kills people every year.

Let’s put it in very clear terms:

This Monday — right after the “spring forward” change — U.S. citizens will die.

They will die in traffic accidents to that their families will seem tragic. And those accidents will in fact be tragic because they are preventable.

There is no energy savings. There is no help to farmers. There is no safety issue for school children.

There is no sane reason to keep switching into and out of time zones other than the fact that we started doing it during World War I and somehow never really stopped.

There’s no humor in that. None.

And that is why they aren’t laughing at this idea any more. They may fight it, but that’s better than laughing at it, and certainly better than ignoring it.

The fight means we’ve almost won. It seems far off, but in the sweep of history it’s very near indeed. The Department of Transportation controls this, and could do something, but won’t until they hear clearly from the states that it’s time.

It is time.

What now?

If you agree, and haven’t yet taken any action, I suggest the following:

Good: Like, tweet, share this post

Better: Write your own post, update, status or whatever and share it with your legislators and other influencers.

Best: Contact your state legislator and urge them to introduce this Resolution.

I’ve gotten emails from legislators in four states now. This thing is happening, and you can be a part of this victory if you take some action right now.

 

Model Resolution for State Legislatures to Fix Daylight Saving Time Clock-Changing

Here is a model language for a resolution that legislators in any state can freely.

Title: Stop Dangerous and Antiquated Clock-Changing Federal Daylight Saving Time Mandate

WHEREAS the history of changing clocks relative to the sun for political reasons originated with Ben Franklin, who proposed re-orienting the time to increase productivity as an elaborate practical joke;

WHEREAS the United States has used some version of “Daylight Saving Time” since 1918 when it was rushed into place as a wartime measure after Germany and then England enacted a similar scheme;

WHEREAS after World War I local jurisdictions had some control over how they set their clocks until the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which mandates that every state participate in the practice of changing the clocks twice per year unless they opt for permanent Standard Time;

WHEREAS uniformity among the 50 states is essential for interstate commerce, even with Arizona and Hawaii having opted for permanent Standard Time;

WHEREAS “Daylight Saving Time” has proven highly beneficial in the early spring, late fall and summer months for health, commerce, recreation and much more, making it highly popular among businesses and the general population;

WHERAS a recent poll showed 68 percent of U.S. residents gave support for Permanent Daylight Saving Time, with only 14 percent opposed;

WHEREAS the overwhelming conclusion of researchers is that the act of changing the clocks twice per year is the direct cause of deadly heart attacks, traffic accidents, workplace injuries, pedestrian deaths, crime, suicides, sleep disruption, and a loss of productivity;

WHEREAS researchers have determined that remaining in Daylight Saving Time year round will save significant amounts of energy in November and February and furthermore will lead to a decrease in childhood obesity by increasing the amount of sunlight after school hours and decrease smog in the winter because rush hour will happen more in the daylight; 

WHEREAS the rationale for switching clocks twice per year to aid in the war effort — while based on faulty science — may have been laudable more than 100 years ago, all scientific research and public sentiment in Colorado now clearly favor remaining in Daylight Saving Time year round.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the state of Colorado that it is the sentiment of this legislative body and of the people represented by this body that the United States should change what is currently “Daylight Saving Time” to the new “Standard Time” and stay with that time year-round;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution be delivered to the President of the United States, and the Colorado delegation in the U.S. Congress urging passage of any legislation that would put an end to the deadly, energy-wasting, productivity-killing, twice-yearly clock changing.

SIGNATURES

Lots of action, but no real progress on DST

In a recent post, I commended a state senator from Alabama for trying to get his state off the crazy clock changing and stay in Daylight Saving Time year-round.

I also pointed out that he was doomed.

Since then a bunch of other states have legislators that want to make the world a better place by ending all the clock changing. Some of them don’t yet know that they are doomed.

The guy in Alabama, however, does know, and announced as much to the press: The Federal Government has control over the clocks. States can pass whatever bills they want to pass, the feds will just tell them, “Too bad.”

That’s why I’ve been advocating a radical but simple plan: All the states need to pass similar legislation saying that they want to get out of DST. 

The bill would say simply: At the point that two-thirds of all states pass a similar bill, at that point we will apply to the Federal Department of Transportation to go into permanent DST.

If two-thirds of the states move all at the same time to fix this, it will get fixed.

I’m hopeful that Alabama will be one of the first to pass this new plan. The beauty of the plan, of course, is that it should be a pretty easy vote for legislators. They aren’t saying they want to be the first to change, they are just saying that if everyone agrees to change, they don’t want to be left out.

Alabama legislators are now considering it because they’ve learned the hard truth. Texas, Utah, New Mexico and probably some others haven’t gotten the bad news yet, but  when they do I hope they will consider joining in this plan.

Do you want to change the world?

This effort to end all the clock changing is going to get a major boost here as the time change thing happens yet again the first weekend of November.

I’ve got a detailed and thorough plan to get us out of the clock-changing madness, but I can’t do it alone.

Do you want to be able to tell your grandchildren that way back in the olden days the government made us change our clocks for no good reason twice per year, but that you were a part of the movement that ended the silliness? Yes? Then please contact me.

Here’s a short list of what I think we could use right off the bat. If you have some other skill you’d like to offer, please let me know, or just go for it.

  1. Project Management. If you write to me, I’ll send you the plan as it exists now. (We are keeping it under wraps to give an exclusive to a BIG media operation.) The plan is ambitious and requires coordination. We could use one really great person to manage this nationally and then one person in every state other than Arizona and Hawaii, where they already don’t change the clocks twice a year.
  2. Public Relations. At a high level, the strategy is now done for this thing, but as any PR pro knows, the strategy isn’t what makes a success, it’s the work. We could use at least 50, and probably more like 60 or 70 people to help get the word out about this effort in every state and region.
  3. State Lobbyists. We don’t need a lot of lobbying here, we have a secret weapon for that. We could use one good person in each state mostly to keep your ear to the ground and let us know about any opposition to our soon-to-be-revealed plan. If there is, we will be able to counter it, but we just need to know what’s going on.
  4. Federal Lobbyists. Again here we don’t need any hard lobbying, we just need eyes and ears, especially if you have any connections with the Department of Transportation. We do NOT need to lobby the U.S. Congress.
  5. Bloggers. I run a content writing service. I know that lots of great content makes all the difference in the world. If you want to blog on this site, just let me know and we’ll post what you’ve got. If you want to blog on your own site, go for it! We’ll link to it from here.

With all of these positions, there’s no money. There’s only the chance to make the world a better place.

Also there’s some glory. We’ll be very good about highlighting successes and showing what works to everyone, and the world will know that you were a key part of this unlikely, unusual campaign.

I’m no project manager, but I’ve taken some first small steps by creating a project board here. If a real project manager has a better idea, I’m all ears, but it seems like that’s as good a tool as any to keep track of our progress.

So, I ask you… What are you going to do to change the world?

Come and join this revolution!

Time for a change?

This is the first post on this blog, and I’m using this as a placeholder. Soon this will be replaced with a version of a very long piece regarding the plans to switch us to permanent Daylight Saving Time.

Then, this will be where we’ll post other news, research, and approaches to help us in our quest to stop the clock-changing insanity.

Please send any other blog topics via the contact page. Or better yet send whole blog posts and we’ll post them and give you credit.

Thanks!

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