Most Americans will be switching their clocks forward one hour on Sunday (March 13th), and members of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee and a variety of experts say it’s time for the country to stop switching times.
Law professor Steve Callandrillo testified before the House Consumer Protection and Commerce subcommittee and said that while saving energy “was the original justification for daylight saving time, it’s no longer as strong as it used to be, but it still does save energy.”
The amount of energy being saved is relatively small, a 2008 study found “the total electricity savings of extended daylight saving time was about 1.3 terawatt-hour. That corresponds to…0.03% of electricity consumption over the year.”
Another argument for ending the time switching was the harm it has on physical and mental health. Lawmakers touted choosing daylight saving time as the permanent time, pointing out the economic benefits of having the extra hour of sunlight in the afternoon or early evening.
Lawmakers from both parties have introduced bills in the House related to time changes. Two bills would make daylight saving time permanent, and two others would give states the option to observe it year-round.
