Once again, the debate is raging. As fall time change Sunday approaches and we prepare to set our clocks back one hour, people are once again wondering why.
Witness a recent article by Jennifer Earl on www.foxnews.com titled “Daylight Saving Time: When and Why We ‘Fall Back’: The Tradition of Changing Clocks Officially Began in The U.S. on March 19, 1918”.
The article, which appeared back on October 11, 2021, began with a friendly reminder:
“Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, which means we still are a few weeks away from turning those clocks back. Theoretically, we'll gain an hour of sleep. But we'll also be losing an hour of evening light through March 13, 2022 — when it's time to ‘spring’ forward. The tradition of changing clocks officially began in the U.S. on March 19, 1918. Here's what you need to know about the century-old tradition…”
The article then asked four questions…
Question number one was: “When did daylight saving time start?” This was the answer:
It was established during World War I as "a way of conserving fuel needed for war industries and of extending the working day," the Library of Congress explained in a post online.
But it was only temporary. The law was repealed about a year later, on August 20, 1919, as soon as the war was over.
"However, the sections of the 1918 law, which had established standard time zones for the country, remained in effect," the library said. "In 1921, Congress readjusted the western boundary of the standard central time zone, shifting parts of Texas and Oklahoma into this zone."
The topic of daylight saving surfaced again during World War II. On Jan. 20, 1942 Congress re-established daylight saving time.
More than two decades later, in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Uniform Time Act, declaring daylight saving time a policy of the U.S. and establishing uniform start and end times within standard time zones.
Question number two was: “What are the rules?” This was the answer:
Daylight saving time and time zones are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under the Uniform Time Act. Daylight saving begins each year on the second Sunday in March, starting at 2 a.m.
"If a state chooses to observe Daylight Saving Time, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates," the DOT says.
Question number three was: “Does everyone change their clocks?” This was the answer:
No. Hawaii, most of Arizona, and a handful of U.S. territories — including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — do not observe daylight saving time.
A bill called the "Sunshine Protection Act," which allows Florida to remain on daylight saving time year-round, was passed in the state House and Senate in March. Gov. Rick Scott then signed the bill into law. However, Congress still needs to amend existing federal law to allow the change.
If approved by the federal government, this will effectively move Florida’s residents one time zone to the east, aligning cities from Jacksonville to Miami with Nova Scotia rather than New York and Washington, D.C.
The fourth question number may be the most significant one: “Why does it matter?” And this was the answer:
There are several reasons why officials believe daylight saving time is beneficial.
Some say it saves energy because people tend to spend more time outside when it's lighter out. The DOT claims it also "saves lives and prevents traffic injuries," because visibility is better.
However, some believe the process is a "hassle."
Proponents of scrapping daylight saving time argue it's generally unnecessary, disturbs sleep patterns and has recently become even more complicated. In 1986, Congress extended daylight saving from a six- to seven-month period and extended it again in 2005 to eight months — mid-March to mid-November.
"Congress really gave us a wise compromise in 1966 with six months of standard time, but because of the lobbies on behalf of daylight we now spring forward in the middle of the winter," Michael Downing, author of "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving," told Fox News in 2015.
Disagreements over daylight saving aren't new. In 1965, before the Uniform Act was passed, 71 major cities in the U.S. with a population of over 100,000 were using daylight saving, while 59 others were not.
"People do not like the hassle of adjusting their clocks twice a year," Downing added.
I have chosen to quote extensively here from the source article as it does about as good of a job addressing the key issues involved as any article I have read.
Now, for me personally, given that I have spent my entire life “springing forward and falling backward”, the concept of “time change” is not really all that troublesome. That being said, I actually prefer as much daylight as possible.
And so, for this reason, if a change is ever made, then ironically, I would prefer permanent Daylight Savings Time as opposed to permanent Standard Time. But that is me. Others are equally entitled to decide how they feel about the matter.
But irrespective of the differences on display in our varied opinions about semiannual time changes, perhaps there is one thing we can all agree upon with regard to changing time. Who among us would not welcome the opportunity, if we could, periodically to roll back the clock?
For many, the desire to roll back the clock might be due to a desire to relive a given moment. This is especially true if that given moment was favorable in one’s memory. For others, that might mean not just reliving, but also changing a given moment. In this case, such a moment might be remembered unfavorably; and the desire might understandably be to undo or redo that instant.
And even if someone manages to get to old age without any regrets, they might still like to roll back time so as to have a bit more of it. After all, losing daylight is one thing. But losing the time of one’s life is quite another.
One last reason we might want to control time might not so much be to rewind the clock as to just make it stop for a little while. After all, when things are going well, do we not wish for the time to last? In the Old Testament (Joshua, chapter 10), Joshua prayed that the sun might stand still while the children of Israel were having a great victory over their enemy, the Amorites; and the Lord allowed this very thing to happen!
Sadly, of course, no matter how much we might desire to do so, most of us simply cannot reclaim time. But this is precisely what makes all moments precious in this life. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade, every lifetime, once gone, cannot be recalled.
Ben Franklin once made the following observation: “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
I’ll simply take a moment of time here and say, “Amen!”
ARTICLE SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/science/daylight-saving-time-when-and-why-we-fall-back. The writer, Jennifer Earl is an SEO editor for Fox News. She can be followed on Twitter @jenearlyspeakin. Note: Fox News' Matt Finn and The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
QUOTE SOURCE:
https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/famous-quotes.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/bsb/joshua/10.htm.
Witness a recent article by Jennifer Earl on www.foxnews.com titled “Daylight Saving Time: When and Why We ‘Fall Back’: The Tradition of Changing Clocks Officially Began in The U.S. on March 19, 1918”.
The article, which appeared back on October 11, 2021, began with a friendly reminder:
“Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 7, which means we still are a few weeks away from turning those clocks back. Theoretically, we'll gain an hour of sleep. But we'll also be losing an hour of evening light through March 13, 2022 — when it's time to ‘spring’ forward. The tradition of changing clocks officially began in the U.S. on March 19, 1918. Here's what you need to know about the century-old tradition…”
The article then asked four questions…
Question number one was: “When did daylight saving time start?” This was the answer:
It was established during World War I as "a way of conserving fuel needed for war industries and of extending the working day," the Library of Congress explained in a post online.
But it was only temporary. The law was repealed about a year later, on August 20, 1919, as soon as the war was over.
"However, the sections of the 1918 law, which had established standard time zones for the country, remained in effect," the library said. "In 1921, Congress readjusted the western boundary of the standard central time zone, shifting parts of Texas and Oklahoma into this zone."
The topic of daylight saving surfaced again during World War II. On Jan. 20, 1942 Congress re-established daylight saving time.
More than two decades later, in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the Uniform Time Act, declaring daylight saving time a policy of the U.S. and establishing uniform start and end times within standard time zones.
Question number two was: “What are the rules?” This was the answer:
Daylight saving time and time zones are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) under the Uniform Time Act. Daylight saving begins each year on the second Sunday in March, starting at 2 a.m.
"If a state chooses to observe Daylight Saving Time, it must begin and end on federally mandated dates," the DOT says.
Question number three was: “Does everyone change their clocks?” This was the answer:
No. Hawaii, most of Arizona, and a handful of U.S. territories — including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — do not observe daylight saving time.
A bill called the "Sunshine Protection Act," which allows Florida to remain on daylight saving time year-round, was passed in the state House and Senate in March. Gov. Rick Scott then signed the bill into law. However, Congress still needs to amend existing federal law to allow the change.
If approved by the federal government, this will effectively move Florida’s residents one time zone to the east, aligning cities from Jacksonville to Miami with Nova Scotia rather than New York and Washington, D.C.
The fourth question number may be the most significant one: “Why does it matter?” And this was the answer:
There are several reasons why officials believe daylight saving time is beneficial.
Some say it saves energy because people tend to spend more time outside when it's lighter out. The DOT claims it also "saves lives and prevents traffic injuries," because visibility is better.
However, some believe the process is a "hassle."
Proponents of scrapping daylight saving time argue it's generally unnecessary, disturbs sleep patterns and has recently become even more complicated. In 1986, Congress extended daylight saving from a six- to seven-month period and extended it again in 2005 to eight months — mid-March to mid-November.
"Congress really gave us a wise compromise in 1966 with six months of standard time, but because of the lobbies on behalf of daylight we now spring forward in the middle of the winter," Michael Downing, author of "Spring Forward: The Annual Madness of Daylight Saving," told Fox News in 2015.
Disagreements over daylight saving aren't new. In 1965, before the Uniform Act was passed, 71 major cities in the U.S. with a population of over 100,000 were using daylight saving, while 59 others were not.
"People do not like the hassle of adjusting their clocks twice a year," Downing added.
I have chosen to quote extensively here from the source article as it does about as good of a job addressing the key issues involved as any article I have read.
Now, for me personally, given that I have spent my entire life “springing forward and falling backward”, the concept of “time change” is not really all that troublesome. That being said, I actually prefer as much daylight as possible.
And so, for this reason, if a change is ever made, then ironically, I would prefer permanent Daylight Savings Time as opposed to permanent Standard Time. But that is me. Others are equally entitled to decide how they feel about the matter.
But irrespective of the differences on display in our varied opinions about semiannual time changes, perhaps there is one thing we can all agree upon with regard to changing time. Who among us would not welcome the opportunity, if we could, periodically to roll back the clock?
For many, the desire to roll back the clock might be due to a desire to relive a given moment. This is especially true if that given moment was favorable in one’s memory. For others, that might mean not just reliving, but also changing a given moment. In this case, such a moment might be remembered unfavorably; and the desire might understandably be to undo or redo that instant.
And even if someone manages to get to old age without any regrets, they might still like to roll back time so as to have a bit more of it. After all, losing daylight is one thing. But losing the time of one’s life is quite another.
One last reason we might want to control time might not so much be to rewind the clock as to just make it stop for a little while. After all, when things are going well, do we not wish for the time to last? In the Old Testament (Joshua, chapter 10), Joshua prayed that the sun might stand still while the children of Israel were having a great victory over their enemy, the Amorites; and the Lord allowed this very thing to happen!
Sadly, of course, no matter how much we might desire to do so, most of us simply cannot reclaim time. But this is precisely what makes all moments precious in this life. Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade, every lifetime, once gone, cannot be recalled.
Ben Franklin once made the following observation: “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of.”
I’ll simply take a moment of time here and say, “Amen!”
ARTICLE SOURCE:
https://www.foxnews.com/science/daylight-saving-time-when-and-why-we-fall-back. The writer, Jennifer Earl is an SEO editor for Fox News. She can be followed on Twitter @jenearlyspeakin. Note: Fox News' Matt Finn and The Associated Press also contributed to this report.
QUOTE SOURCE:
https://www.fi.edu/benjamin-franklin/famous-quotes.
SCRIPTURE SOURCE:
https://biblehub.com/bsb/joshua/10.htm.