What to know about the latest push to make daylight saving time permanent

Geoff Bennett:

It's a debate that has consumed a lot of time, literally. But, yesterday, Congress took its biggest step yet toward ending the twice-yearly changing of the clocks. The House passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent nationwide.

The bipartisan bill now heads to the U.S. Senate, where a similar effort stalled several years ago.

For more on the push to stop changing the clocks, we are joined now by Scott Yates, founder of the Lock the Clock Alliance.

Scott, it's always good to see you.

So you have been pushing for this for years. We have seen momentum before. It's not become law. Why might this time be different?

Scott Yates, Founder, Lock the Clock Alliance: Well, we have never seen it pass the House before. I mean, it's never gotten the floor for -- even to be able to have a vote. So this is just a huge step forward.

And I think it shows the kind of momentum that we have, and I think it shows the excitement over an issue that's actually bipartisan. I was pleased to see a wide margin, both among Republicans and Democrats, voting for it. So I think, with that kind of momentum, we can go over to the Senate and say, look, this is what the people want.

And clearly that's reflected in state legislatures across the country and in the House vote yesterday.

Geoff Bennett:

In your view, what do we gain by stopping the twice-yearly changing of the clocks?

Scott Yates:

One of the things I was really encouraged to hear yesterday were all different politicians kind of getting up and talking about the health detriments of the clock changing.

It wasn't that long ago that we just thought of changing the clocks for daylight saving time as kind of an annoyance, but we didn't think of it as deadly. But now the research is really clear that it really is deadly and very disruptive. It's bad for schools, it's bad for businesses, it's bad for everybody.

The only thing that we don't agree on is -- completely is on which time zone we should be locking into. But I think we have got a solution to be able to address that without having to have the clock change twice a year, which is what I think most people actually are the most interested in. It's just they don't really care that much which one we lock into. They just don't like the switching.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, what's the solution?

Scott Yates:

Well, the solution is actually an amendment that I proposed back when it was in the Senate last year, to have a two-year implementation period.

And what that allows is for each state to be able to have enough time and the school boards to weigh in and everybody in a state to be able to say, look, this is a time that makes the most sense for us. Anybody that says they have got a perfect solution that works for every state in the country has some other agenda they're trying to push.

Saying that you have got the exact right solution that works for Massachusetts and also works for Indiana, well, that's just not possible. So I think if we have a two-year implementation, which is an amendment that was accepted and is now part of the Senate version, that would give people of, for instance, Indiana and Michigan, a couple of states that I think would be really well served to be on permanent Standard Time, to be able to make that decision.

Geoff Bennett:

Senator Tom Cotton, as you well know, he has opposed permanent daylight saving time. Here's part of what he said.

Sen. Thom Cotton (R-AR):

By moving the clock back an hour in winter, permanent daylight savings time would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that's essential for our safety and well-being.

Geoff Bennett:

So, under permanent daylight saving time, 87 percent of Americans would see winter sunrises after 8:00 a.m.

There's also this 1974 experiment with permanent daylight saving time when dark winter mornings were linked to an increase in pedestrian accidents involving children walking to school. How do you answer those safety concerns?

Scott Yates:

Well, once they actually did the research about what happened in 1974, they found that there really wasn't much of an increase in pedestrian deaths.

And they have studied a lot since then. And if you're interested in pedestrian safety, there's no question that permanent daylight saving time is the more safe alternative. More light for pedestrians later in the day equals fewer pedestrian fatalities.

But with respect to what Tom Cotton says, one person's absurdly late is another person's, that's just fine. A lot of people, especially in rural areas, are already getting up in the dark when it's in the winter, and they're already going to school in the winter, especially if they have sports.

And what a lot of those people have told me is, they don't want to go to school and go to work in the dark and come home in the dark, which is what they're doing now. So if they can go to school, work in the dark and come home with a little bit of light, so that they can have a little bit of time to play outside at the end of the day, that's all the better.

But my view is, it's not up for us to say. I think it's right for the Congress to say we should stop switching twice a year, but it's appropriate for each state to have the discussion and decide which time zone they want to lock into permanently. It's a state's right issue, which is something I think Senator Cotton would agree with.

Geoff Bennett:

Here's a history question. There is this longstanding myth that daylight saving time originated with farmers. How did that misconception take hold? And where did it originate?

Scott Yates:

You know, it originated from a retailer in Boston who thought that, if people had more time -- more daylight at the end of the day, they would spend more time shopping. But he didn't want to say that. So he said, let's say it's the farmers.

Scott Yates:

And that myth has stuck with us all the way through.

Geoff Bennett:

Scott Yates, founder of the Lock the Clock Alliance, always good to speak with you. Thanks so much.

Scott Yates:

Thank you, Geoff.