In March, The United States Senate passed a bill to make Daylight Savings Time permanent.  No more "springing forward" in the Spring or "falling back" in the Fall. Unfortunately, the United States House of Representatives never took up the bill.

Here in Texas, our legislature has considered legislation on daylight saving time over 20 times since 1966.  It has never passed.

To many people, this is a no-brainer.  Who likes the sunset happening at 5 pm? Many of us aren't even home from work by then.  Who could possibly object?

The answer might surprise you.

Anyone who has ever had to send their child to a bus stop or out for school in the morning knows the fear of sending them out in the dark.  If permanent daylight saving time were enacted, there would be some late sunrises.

Starting on November 20th, the sun would not rise until 8 am.  Many schools are already in session by then. Further, the sun would continue to rise at 8 am or later until February 26th. The latest the sun would rise would be 8:28 am.

Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash
Photo by OC Gonzalez on Unsplash
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That's going to be hard for a lot of people. Even many  9 to 5'ers might find that to be disturbing.  It's hard enough to get up for work or school but to have to not only wake up in pitch darkness but get on the way before daylight would take its toll.

Photo by Louis Droege on Unsplash
Photo by Louis Droege on Unsplash
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Even so, polls show 79% of the public likes the idea of permanent daylight saving time. This is probably because, with permanent daylight saving time,  the earliest the sun would set would be 6:30 pm.  In addition, there is a common perception that daylight saving time saves energy.

According to Live Science, this is not necessarily so.  There are many studies and some reputable investigators who have determined that permanent daylight saving time actually boosts energy consumption.

Granted, because there is a bigger difference between the length of nights in northern areas like Montana or Maine, people there might find permanent daylight saving time more valuable than people here in Texas.

Photo by Kishor on Unsplash
Photo by Kishor on Unsplash
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Either way, it comes down to personal preference.  Perhaps that is the real reason why permanent daylight saving time has never passed either the U.S. Congress or the Texas legislature.  There is just no consensus on what is best.

You can bet it will come up again in 2023.

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