Daylight Savings Explained – 90SS Ep. 24

Recently, the United States Senate passed a bill that would keep Daylight Savings Time (DST) permanent starting from 2023. Often, the order of which the clock is moved is convoluted: DST moves clocks forward an hour to provide the illusion of “more sunlight” during the summer time. The remaining time outside of DST is referred to as standard time. While the majority of people agree to abolish the changing of the clocks, many often disagree as to which time (DST or Standard) should become the… well.. standard. Proponents for keeping DST argue that the “extended sunlight” gives people more time to be productive and lowers energy costs. But after the Senate passed the bill with unanimous consent, many sleep researchers and scientists argued that the time should be kept at standard time, as it more closely aligns with the human circadian rhythm. Sleep experts say that standard time helps with sleep, health, and overall productivity. Others say that it would prevent kids from going to school in the dark, and claim that DST actually drives up energy costs. While it is true that there are some studies that back up the claim that DST increases energy costs, the research is still relatively inconclusive. The question ultimately boils down to: would you rather have to get up in the dark but get sun until the late PMs, or the opposite. Perhaps the only way to know the better version is to try it through DST as proposed in the Senate, and change it to standard time if the public attitude turns against DST.