Hi friends,
Last year, without much discussion, the US Senate passed a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent, with no changing of clocks. I got very agitated about this bill, because I was pretty sure it was the wrong fix for a real problem.
Fortunately, the bill went nowhere in the House. But the bill has been reintroduced in the Senate and the House has changed hands.
We have common ground with those who want to make daylight savings time permanent; ending the changing of clocks will improve road safety and avert some health impacts.
But if we are making a decision to standardize time to promote health and energy savings, standard time is the better choice! We need to let our Senators know why making Daylight Savings Time permanent would be a mistake.
There are cosmic, health-related, and climate arguments for sticking with standard time (which is what we’re on until March 12 this year). All my sources are cited in last year’s post, but here’s the quick rundown of reasons to stick to standard time.
The cosmic reason is that noon at standard time is better aligned with solar noon. So, as a norm — and as the name suggests — standard time is the natural choice.
Daylight saving time makes us out of sync with our body clocks and results in most of us sleeping less; neither of these promote good health. Last year, I failed to include this article, which discusses how turning our clocks back in the spring affects memory, focus, mood, and decision-making AND contributes to more heart attacks and strokes in the days following the change.
In Indiana, where most of the state’s counties did not change clocks until 2006, a study of what happened when the whole state started observing daylight savings time revealed that Indiana homeowners paid an extra $8.6 million annually in electric bills, mainly to power air conditioners.
Tell your Congressional delegation why we should stop changing the clocks and remain on standard time.
There are a LOT of things going on right now, and I need to regroup. You probably also need to regroup.
It’s not too late to catch up on actions from earlier this week. There are no deductions for late work.
Tell the New York Times to stop spreading misinformation about trans people! This quick action is from GLAAD.
Tell Congress that we won’t accept cuts to health care! This quick action is from Moms Rising.
Tell Governor Hochul that we owe a living wage to home care workers!
Call on Secretary Buttigieg to strengthen transportation regulations. Tell your story if you were left stranded by an airline in the past year.
Sign the petition to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to adopt the rule that will stop the bomb trains!
Tell Mayor Adams that you value the separation of church and state.
Start the weekend whenever you’re ready!
with love,
L