Where does Donald Trump stand on time?
Last week the President-elect stated that he would work with Republicans to eliminate Daylight Saving Time( "DST").
However, in 2019 Trump suggested that he would sign a bill ("The Sunshine Protection Act") sponsored by Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Representative Vern Buchanan of Florida that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent.
The Sunshine Protection Act has been introduced in each of the last four sessions of Congress but has never been able to get the necessary support to pass.
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| Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Protection_Act |
There are strong constituencies on both sides of the time issue.
Advocates of DST argue that it results in decreased crime, less frequent traffic incidents, longer evening outdoor recreation hours and reduced energy consumption.
Those who favor standard time claim it is more beneficial to our health as it better matches the natural circadian cycle of humans. It provides a better opportunity to take advantage of increased exposure to beneficial morning sunlight. It provides a safer environment for children going to school and for early morning worker commutes. The farming community also generally favors standard time as much of their work is done in the early morning hours.
However, going to standard time year round would push sunrise times in much of the country before 5:00 am in June. I am not sure how popular that would be.
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| Source: https://x.com/KOCOdamonlane/status/1868130056104513675 |
The only thing that most everyone agrees on is that they don't like changing their clocks two times a year and would prefer one time for the whole year.
My first memory of DST is when I was about 5 years old. We lived just outside of Akron, Ohio and my grandparents lived in Cleveland. Cleveland was on DST but Akron was not so there was always a lot of discussion about what time is was whenever we planned a visit. Even to a 5 year old that was very confusing.
This confusion reigned across the United States in the 1950's and 1960's because each locality could adopt, start and end DST as it wanted to. In fact, on one bus route between West Virginia and Ohio, passengers had to change their watches seven times in 35 miles. In Iowa, 23 different pairs of DST start and end dates were in effect in one year.
All of this chaos finally led Congress to pass a law in 1966 establishing set rules for observing DST nationally. This law established DST as the national standard beginning on the last Sunday of April and ending on the last Sunday in October-exactly six months in duration. However, it permitted any state to exempt itself from DST by passing a state law.
This was later amended to allow any state to make this distinction based on time zones in the state. This resulted in Indiana (part Eastern and Central time) to split between standard and daylight time until the state finally went to DST uniformly in 2005. Right now Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that do not observe DST.
The Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act enacted year-round daylight saving time for a two-year experiment from January 6, 1974, to April 7, 1975, but Congress later ended the experiment early on October 27, 1974, and did not make it permanent due to unfavorable public opinion, especially regarding concerns about children walking to school and waiting for school buses on dark winter mornings.
You can see why those dark winter mornings are a concern if DST would be in effect year around by considering the sunrise times on January 1 in various major cities if that became a reality.
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| Source: https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/permanent-daylight-saving-time-9am-sunrise-winter |
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| Source: https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/permanent-daylight-saving-time-9am-sunrise-winter |
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| Source: https://www.foxweather.com/lifestyle/permanent-daylight-saving-time-9am-sunrise-winter |
Permanent Daylight Saving Time would see large portions of the United States see over 100 days each year where the sun did not rise until after 8am.
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| Credit: https://x.com/bnkwupt/status/1853173071051739261 |
Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) stated she will work with anyone to make DST permanent in response to Trump stating he was in favor of eliminating it.
However, you have to wonder whether her constituents in Seattle will support her when they realize they will not see the sun until 900am in the dead of winter and after 8am for one-third of the year?
A YouGov poll last year on the issue of Daylight Saving Time found that a large majority of Americans wanted to eliminate the changing of clocks every year.
62% would like to see the changing of clocks eliminated.
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| Source: https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/etwjvohrxx/Daylight_Saving_Time_Toplines_Crosstabs.pdf |
Of those who wanted to eliminate the time changes each year, Daylight Saving Time was the preferred option over Standard Time by a 50%-31% margin.
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| Source: https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/etwjvohrxx/Daylight_Saving_Time_Toplines_Crosstabs.pdf |
Where does Trump stand on time?
It will be interesting to see how all of this plays out as there are strong opinions on both sides.
The only clear consensus is people do not like changing their clocks.
Considering all of the above, if I were Trump I would attempt to work out a compromise solution.
Why not consider permanently adjusting all of the time zones forward by half an hour? That buys some extra daylight at the end of the day but would not disrupt the morning to the extent it is with the hour time change.
For those who think that is not possible, 30 minute offsets are being used in other parts of the world.
For example, India, the most populous country in the world, uses a 30 minute offset. Both Newfoundland and Venezuela in the Western Hemisphere are also on 30 minute offsets.
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| Source: https://www.timeanddate.com/time/time-zones-interesting.html |
A compromise on time sounds like it has potential to be in the spirt of "The Art of the Deal" that Trump is famous for.
Is there any place left for compromise among us?
Can we start with our time?
Certainly an interesting topic for debate and no right or wrong answer. I remember as a child in the rural southwest before the shift to DST waiting for the school bus in total darkness in below freezing temps. Later as a college grad moving to Phoenix and loving ST. Not because the clocks didn’t change but in winter it was darker later and in the summer getting a reprieve from the scorching heat because the sun set earlier. The reality is where you live, what job you do, and your personal preference will always make up for that twice a year nuisance of changing your clock. No right or wrong answer. No some people like change for the sake of change. I say leave it as it is.
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