Will the Sunshine Protection Act actually improve our health or is permanent standard time a better choice?
Table of Contents
Congress voted to end the time change, but there is a catch. See why daylight saving only captures 66% of the health benefits that standard time offers.
Key Takeaways
What: The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act to make daylight saving time permanent.
Why: To eliminate the twice-yearly clock change and increase evening daylight for commerce.
How: If the Senate approves, the U.S. will “lock the clock,” though states can opt for permanent standard time instead.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently took a significant step toward ending one of the country’s most persistent nuisances: the twice-yearly time change. With a bipartisan 308-117 vote, lawmakers passed the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent across the nation. President Trump has championed the move, describing the ritual of “springing forward” and “falling back” as a “ridiculous, twice-yearly production”.
While “locking the clock” sounds like a simple victory for convenience, there is a hidden efficiency gap in the plan that most people are missing.
The 66% Efficiency Gap
Much of the public conversation focuses on the perks of having an extra hour of evening sun for golf, shopping, or outdoor exercise. However, researchers at Stanford have found that choosing permanent daylight saving time is actually a health compromise. Their data suggests that permanent daylight saving time would only capture about two-thirds (66%) of the health and safety benefits that permanent standard time would provide.
The issue is biological rather than political. Jamie Zeitzer, a professor at Stanford, explains that our internal clocks respond differently to light depending on the hour. Morning light speeds up our circadian cycle, helping us wake up and stay alert, while evening light slows it down. To stay properly synchronized with a 24-hour day, the human body needs more light in the morning and less at night. By pushing the sun later into the evening year-round, we might solve the “hassle” of changing clocks, but we fail to give our bodies the full biological reset they need.
The 1974 Warning
History suggests that what sounds good in theory can fail quickly in practice. In 1974, the U.S. attempted permanent daylight saving time to save energy during a fuel crisis. At first, the idea was incredibly popular, with 79% of the public in favor. But as winter arrived and parents watched their children head to school in pitch-black mornings, support plummeted to just 42% in three months. Congress repealed the law less than a year later.
Lawmakers like Representative Mary Gay Scanlon are raising those same historical red flags today. She warns that under this new bill, millions of Americans will wake up in complete darkness during winter months, with the sun not rising until nearly 9:00 a.m. in some parts of the country.
Economic Winners and Losers
The impact of this change wouldn’t be felt evenly across the economy. The golf industry is a major proponent, estimating that an extra hour of evening sun could generate nearly $1 billion in additional revenue. Retailers and restaurants also expect a boost from increased foot traffic during lighter winter evenings.
On the other side, the airline industry is bracing for a logistical mess. Airlines for America has warned that a permanent shift would create “considerable implications” for international flight connectivity and crew positioning. Farmers and construction workers are also concerned; Senator Tom Cotton noted that these workers could face up to five hours of darkness every morning, which threatens both their safety and their quality of life.
Science vs. Popularity
Public opinion remains firmly on the side of evening sun, with 56% of adults preferring permanent daylight saving time. Yet, organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Sleep Medicine are pushing for the opposite: permanent standard time. They argue that standard time is the only way to truly align our schedules with the sun, potentially preventing hundreds of thousands of strokes and millions of cases of obesity that are linked to circadian disruption.
The bill now moves to the Senate, where its future is less certain. While 19 states have already passed laws to end the time change, they are legally stuck in the current system until the federal government gives them the green light to finally “ditch the switch”. The House has made its choice, but the debate over whether they picked the right time is far from over.