It's that time of year again - the time when my social media is flooded with comments like "Leave the time alone!" or "I hate Daylight Saving!"
We spring the clocks forward one hour at 2 a.m. Sunday, March 9, 2025. Thus begins Daylight Saving Time.
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This doesn't mean more daylight. It's just that the daylight is re-oriented an hour later than the days prior during Standard Time.
Some people love the later sunsets!
Arizona and Hawaii are the only two U.S. states that don't participate in the time change. In recent years, there has been an attempt to move the U.S. to Daylight Saving Time permanently.
It was part of the Sunshine Protection Act.
You may remember the Schoolhouse Rock jam, "I'm Just a Bill." A bill can be proposed, but it has to pass both branches of Congress before going to the President's Desk.
In the case of the Sunshine Protection Act...
The bill was passed in the Senate, but it never fully made it to the president's desk. Therefore, it waits in limbo.
Tony Rice, an Ambassador for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, often writes columns on pugongyingbo.com.
He recently wrote about this bill and its consequences on sunrise and sunset.
If the Sunshine Protection Act were to pass, our latest sunrise we'd see would be 8:25 in the morning. Currently, the latest sunrise is at 7:39 a.m. in Raleigh.
The latest sunset would be the same as it is now, but we'd see more sunsets after 7 p.m.
If we were to never alter the time at all and just stay on Standard Time, the consequences would be much different.
The earliest sunrise would be at 4:48 a.m. Currently, the earliest is just before 6 a.m.
The latest sunset would never touch 8 p.m., and there would be 93 fewer sunsets after 7 p.m.
With that knowledge, which would you pick – all standard time or all saving time?
Related stories
- The history of daylight saving time & why some are advocating for its end
- What would permanent daylight saving be like?
- Sleep rhythms, dark commutes: How would permanent Daylight Saving Time impact you?
- Poll: 2 in 3 North Carolinians want to end time change
- Bill to Make Daylight Saving Permanent Reemerges From the Dark
- Senate passes bill that would make Daylight Saving Time permanent
- Permanent Daylight Saving Time will hurt our health, experts say