Full-Time Daylight Delight?

• Position: TRENDS

Most of us "fell back" at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 4, when once again we adjusted all our clocks and watches back one hour to standard time and tried to use the extra hour for something wonderful. A growing number of critics, however, are questioning the benefits of the well-established practice of flipping between daylight and standard times twice a year. Switching back and forth is not only a nuisance, they argue, it also disrupts a person's natural circadian rhythms, which is bad for health in the couple of days following a change.

Daylight saving can be traced back to at least World War I, but wasn't established nationwide until the Uniform Time Act was passed in 1966 to save on energy costs. The act allows a state legislature to exempt itself from observing daylight saving time but does not let states observe it permanently.

The current system is in practice in 48 states--Arizona. Hawaii, some Amish communities, and the American territories don't use it--but every year brings more legislation to change it. In 2016, 13 states considered 22 bills; in 2017, 18 states considered 39 bills and resolutions; and, as of August, 25 states were considering 39 bills or resolutions.

Some bills propose getting rid of daylight time altogether; others aim to adopt it full time. The issue appears to be not so much which time to adopt but to stop flipping between the two twice a year.

Proponents of staying on daylight saving time all year argue that more daylight makes driving safer, reduces crime and helps productivity.

So far this year, a handful of bills or resolutions have passed and some are pending, but most have failed. Alabama lawmakers urged Congress to permanently adopt daylight time. Florida legislators declared their intent to go to daylight time full...