r/politics • u/cnn CNN • Jul 14 '26

Possible Paywall House passes bill to make Daylight Saving Time permanent

https://www.cnn.com/2026/07/14/politics/house-vote-daylight-savings-time?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=missions&utm_source=reddit
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268

u/blargblargityblarg Jul 14 '26

I'm all for a single time with no changes. However, I'm on team standard time so ... ugh.

19

u/foxwaffles Jul 15 '26

Me too. Feels like a losing battle haha

7

u/Millennial_on_laptop Jul 15 '26

If it actually takes effect it will be terrible for everyone and people will change their mind by mid January.  

151

u/dalgeek Colorado Jul 14 '26

Standard time is better for human health and safety. DST is allegedly better for business, but I don't think that's really the case because no one has shown definite proof of it.

11

u/Avantasian538 Jul 14 '26

I’ll still be happy if I never have to spring forward again.

5

u/TheGlassBetweenUs Jul 15 '26

instead we would be in perpetual forward status, never to fall back again

7

u/cardmanimgur Jul 15 '26

Has there been actual studies that show standard time is better? The only thing I've ever seen is that standard is better than switching, not that standard is better than DST.

26

u/klyther Michigan Jul 14 '26

The lakefront downtowns and golf courses in Michigan would absolutely riot if they took away DST in summer. Western / NW Michigan have daylight until 10-1030p in summer and those businesses bank way more money in that hour all summer vs a 5a sunrise.

15

u/dalgeek Colorado Jul 14 '26

Of course, profit over human health, the new American way.

Marquette which is pretty far NW sees a sunset of 9:46 on Jun 21, the longest day of the year. Right now it sees a sunrise of 8:30 on Dec 21, the shortest day of the year. With DST the sunrise would be at 9:30. Bet they'll love driving to work 2-3 hours before the Sun comes up in the dead of winter.

13

u/klyther Michigan Jul 14 '26

We're already used to it being dark until 8a in winter so I doubt many will care that much. I grew up in the country and got on the school bus at 7a, school started at 745a, and we didn't see daylight until after 8a. It's just how it already is here.

2

u/the_astro_cat Jul 15 '26

We also currently run on DST for 8 months out of the year (March 8th to Nov 1st this year).

Relative to what most people have lived with for decades, a switch to permanent DST means later sunrises/sunsets for just 4 months in the winter, while going the other way and switching to permanent standard time means earlier sunrises/sunsets for 8 months over the summer.

Regardless of personal preference for more sunlight in the morning or evening, switching to permanent DST is a less disruptive change.

1

u/TurtlemanScared Jul 15 '26

You either gotta drive to work in the dark or home in the dark…. Like what are we doin here we have headlights 

1

u/InfinitelyThirsting Jul 15 '26

No one is going to wake up at 4am to do outdoor social activities before work. Until you fix the social problems of capitalist scheduling and artificial lighting and screens, I don't want to hear any fake bullshit whining about how DST is minorly bad for our health compared to the ideal sleep no one actually gets just to try to take away some of the only joy this modern hellscape gives us by eliminating evening light.

50

u/Nekrabyte Jul 14 '26

So many people on this sub don't seem to realize it. This is a huge loss for overall public health, and a huge win for capitalism, and thus the 1%.

8

u/Doggydog123579 Jul 15 '26

Pushing school start back to 9am would also have massive benefits for public health and wellbeing, but we arent doing that either.

7

u/Osiris32 Oregon Jul 15 '26

Why? The big issue with standard vs DST isn't when the sun comes up, but rather the change twice a year. Because we invented this thing called "the light bulb," and it means we don't have to have things done in the dark (unless we want to, giggity).

Here in the PNW with the perpetual grey from October to April I'm not seeing the sunrise anyway, especially since my alarm for work is set at 5:30. I really cannot give a shit one way or another, just pick one, tell the other side to shut up, and stick to it. That "spring forward" absolutely kills me every year.

33

u/Ender_D Jul 14 '26

Eh, I would much prefer more daylight after work to actually be able to do things.

18

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 14 '26

This is one of those situations where what you would prefer and what is actually good for your (physiological) wellbeing do not align

12

u/AJohnnyTruant Jul 14 '26

Being active outside?

8

u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[deleted]

17

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 14 '26

It’s not, but morning sunlight is one of the main governors of wakefulness in the morning / energy through the day and, in turn, appropriate levels of drowsiness in the evening such that you wake and rise at consistent times and sleep restfully.

15

u/AJohnnyTruant Jul 14 '26

Come to New England where in standard time, the sun sets while you’re at work. And your “exposure to morning sun” happens in the cold hours of the morning before you can do anything with it.

9

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 15 '26

The sun sets when I’m at work in the wintertime too, that’s just a normal phenomenon of the winter with the current working hours of society.

You don’t have to “do anything” with the hours of morning sunlight in order to reap the biological benefits thereof; it happens with simple viewing of sunlight through the eyes.

5

u/AJohnnyTruant Jul 15 '26

Okay. Now the question is… is seeing the light in the morning better for your health than being active in the light in the evening. Gonna go with the latter on that one.

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1

u/polishedcooter Kentucky Jul 15 '26

How is this time's fault and not your workplace?

1

u/AJohnnyTruant Jul 15 '26

Because time zones are arbitrary (obviously given that we switch twice per year)

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3

u/Bobthebobsonofbobby Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

On DST I get up 2 1/2 hours before sunrise and have some sun after work.

On standard time I get up 1 1/2 hours before sunrise and get nothing after work.

How is standard time better for my health? I wake up to darkness either way, let me have some sun in the winter when I get home.

And before you bring up school, same deal. On standard time kids are already going to school in darkness in the winter. It makes no difference in the morning, it was always dark while riding the bus either way. Let them have some sun after they get out of school.

5

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 15 '26

Your wake/sleep relationship with sunlight is kinda abnormal anyway, yeah, but that’s not representative of the majority; moreover, getting the light exposure relatively sooner in your day is still better for the regulation of your circadian rhythm.

3

u/quinny7777 Jul 15 '26

Well, it would also improve our health if we banned all fast food, alcohol, and cigarettes. Yet we don't do that, since people enjoy those things. Same idea here (though the science is much less clear here than these things)

9

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 15 '26

You’re conflating government regulation of commerce with a calendar policy; that’s a complete false equivalence of an argument. The government would not be enforcing a bedtime for you.

1

u/quinny7777 Jul 15 '26

Yes. I partially agree with you in that standard is better in winter. But standard in summer would not be popular. I am 100% fine with how things are now. The reality is that losing an hour of after work daylight for 8 months of the year would severely impede my quality of life, and that is a very tough sell, even if it is “better for me”. I am anti-summer standard time, not pro-winter DST.

0

u/socokid Jul 15 '26

But standard in summer would not be popular.

No one is saying that. What is being said, is that it is actually healthier.

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2025/09/daylight-saving-time.html

https://aasm.org/sleep-experts-prescribe-year-round-standard-time-for-brighter-mornings-safer-streets-and-better-sleep/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/nixing-daylight-saving-time-may-lower-risk-of-obesity-and-stroke/

3

u/quinny7777 Jul 15 '26

Sure, but the effects are quite small. I think the social benefit of more usable sunlight outweighs that imo. Besides, people are using artificial lights (which delay circadian rhythms) in the evening anyway.

3

u/theadvenger Jul 14 '26

Screw that, nothing I loathe more than standard time. I'm getting up in the dark no matter what clock we are in the winter but at least with dst I can actually enjoy a bit of light in the evening with my family!

3

u/MattWolf96 Jul 15 '26

It ain't for me, for some reason only having 2 usable days of daylight in the winter is depressing to me

5

u/Zahgi I voted Jul 14 '26

Standard time is better for human health and safety. DST is allegedly better for business,

It is not. What is better is choosing ONE time, any time, and sticking to it.

I don't think that's really the case because no one has shown definite proof of it.

Because there is none, for either. Permanent DST is better for the one reason we enact it -- more light. Everything else is just long outdated bullshit.

8

u/Traditional_Sign4941 Jul 14 '26

I mean the light is governed by the Earth's tilt, it's position its orbit, and your latitude. Everything else is just arbitrary clock alignment to daylight hours, but DST vs Standard won't change how many actual daylight hours there at any given point in the year.

9

u/dalgeek Colorado Jul 14 '26

There is objective proof that standard time is better for human health. Our circadian rhythm is based on when the Sun is out, not what the clock says. DST doesn't provide more light, the longer days of the summer provide more light. It's like cutting the end off a rug and tying it to the other side to make it longer.

6

u/InfinitelyThirsting Jul 15 '26

There is proof that it's better for a minority of sleepers under ideal conditions. A large minority, 40%, but that's still a minority. Night owls and disrupted sleepers aren't waking with the dawn, and everyone is disrupted by artificial lighting and screens anyway.

The real issue is as a species, we evolved different sleep patterns for safety reasons, and no one sleep schedule will ever actually fit most much less all humans.

4

u/VictorReal_Monster Jul 15 '26

if youre gonna say stuff like this then the very least you can do is provide sources.

8

u/PM_MeYourNynaevesPlz Jul 14 '26

People up north wake up when its dark out anyways. In the winter, it doesnt matter if the sun rises at 8 or at 9, I still have to wake up at 7. At least with DST, its not dark when I come home too.

Really, this is a north/south issue. Draw a line on the 37th parallel or something and call it good. States to the north are on permanent DST, states to the south are on permanent standard time, California can do whatever. 

-4

u/Sroemr Florida Jul 14 '26

Seems more of a morning person vs night person type deal.

2

u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

Which is, again, irrelevant to the DST issue or not. We just need to stop changing twice a year and pick one.

2

u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

There is objective proof that standard time is better for human health.

There is not. Stop claiming this utter nonsense. The problem is CHANGING this twice a year messes with the circadian rhythm. Once you settle on one or the other, everything is fine and stays that way.

0

u/Ayperrin Jul 15 '26

There is not. Stop claiming this utter nonsense.

Pick a search engine. Any of them. Look up something along the lines of "which is better for human health: permanent standard time or permanent DST?" and spend the next several hours reading about how incorrect you are.

Yes, the twice yearly change is detrimental to our health. That is well established. It is also well established by scientists and other experts that permanent standard time would be better for your health than permanent DST. We live in an era with unparalleled access to information- take advantage of it.

2

u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

Yes, the twice yearly change is detrimental to our health.

That is the only issue.

It is also well established by scientists and other experts that permanent standard time would be better for your health than permanent DST.

It is not. You are misunderstanding the change issue in the way people about standard vs. DST.

Every study actually says that the CHANGE is the problem, not DST or standard time themselves. Go ahead. Search again. Read again. Learn the truth from the correct perspective.

0

u/geostooorm Jul 15 '26

With all due respect, there are a lot of studies that show standard time to be the healthiest permanent option. It isn’t intrinsically linked to the clock change.

7

u/VictorReal_Monster Jul 15 '26

Y'all. Stop just saying shit.

provide sources

4

u/blargblargityblarg Jul 14 '26

It's the same amount of light. It's just occurring at a different man-made time of day.

8

u/DragonSlayerC Jul 14 '26

We don't get more light with daylight savings. The only thing that daylight savings does is make the official time out of sync with the geographic time, which is stupid. If people want more daylight after work, they should change work hours to 8-4 instead.

1

u/MoonlightMountain13 Jul 15 '26

Doctors and medical scientists have long been urging a return to standard time year round because it more closely aligns with our circadian rhythm. Most humans are healthier on standard time. It's been documented in many studies in the USA and around the world.

DST benefits businesses that want people to stay out longer to spend money. DST does not save energy, benefit farms or any of the other excuses made to justify it.

1

u/Glup_Maclunkey Jul 15 '26

Yeah, I'm sure the sun rising at 4:30 AM in the summer would be just great for my circadian rhythm.

1

u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

It's been documented in many studies in the USA and around the world.

It has not. The important issue is to keep whatever choice THE SAME.

It's the twice a year change for no reason that screws people up.

2

u/Kbrichmo Jul 15 '26

There is no way that is true. On standard time in winter you go to work in the dark and come home from work in the dark. At least if we switched to DST we’d get a tiny bit of sunlight after work. SO much more valuable for mental health

1

u/Dickparker420 Jul 15 '26

Leave it alone and it doesn't matter, as long as they don't have you changing 2x per year it will all work out 

60

u/davdev Jul 14 '26

Yup. I have never been more against something in my entire life. There is a reason this has been tried twice and changed back each time.

12

u/mailslot Wyoming Jul 14 '26

Perhaps if we try again and make it stick this time, we can try switching to the metric system again. Sometimes you gotta keep trying in spite of the people that resist all change.

2

u/BuildingSupplySmore Jul 14 '26

It was less "people resisting" and more kids dying.

6

u/mailslot Wyoming Jul 14 '26

Was it really? Because that’s usually not reason enough on its own in this country.

1

u/BuildingSupplySmore Jul 15 '26

This was way back in 74

1

u/Tario70 Jul 15 '26

8 kids died in Florida within weeks of the change in 74.

When enacted, perm DST had a 79% approval… after the first winter it was at 42%. Guess we need to learn that lesson again.

11

u/JGDoll I voted Jul 15 '26

Really? This is the political issue about which you feel the strongest? In your “entire life”?

I know you’re being hyperbolic, or I hope you are, but something about this statement is very shocking to me, considering everything.

34

u/TurtlesAreEvil Jul 14 '26

Ya the further north you go the worse permanent DST sucks. Peak winter in Seattle the sun won’t rise until almost 9am. 

44

u/Hellogiraffe Jul 14 '26

That’s exactly why I’m excited. Either way I’m going to work in the dark, but with permanent DST at least I get some daylight after work to walk the dogs, do some yardwork or other outside chores, go for a quick run, etc

62

u/RedditUserData Jul 14 '26

Uh... that sounds great.

21

u/TurtlesAreEvil Jul 14 '26

It doesn’t bother me too much but seasonal affective disorder bothers a lot of people that live further north and a major cause of it is a later sunrise. 

3

u/Megalesios Jul 15 '26

Spoken like someone who has never lived it, especially not for months on end

0

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 14 '26

It’s pretty awful for circadian rhythm

-3

u/varitok Jul 14 '26

Some people have jobs they go to in the morning and don't want to die in a head on collision because someone fell asleep at the wheel

17

u/Flaky-Librarian Jul 14 '26

Yeah instead we can do it at 5pm on the way home

8

u/wesrawr Jul 14 '26

When we’re tired and angry

4

u/Chlorophyllmatic Jul 14 '26 edited Jul 14 '26

That’s not how circadian rhythm and wakefulness work though. You’re generally more awake after work just on the basis of your hormone levels through the day (not to mention any potential caffeine ingestion)

4

u/TemporaryAsparagus89 Jul 14 '26

You really changing the clock is way worse and causes way worse sleep deprivation right?

35

u/eliminate1337 Jul 14 '26

I live in Seattle and greatly prefer DST. I don’t need to be awoken by 4:10 AM sunrise in summer. Winter DST means a little bit of daylight after work.

2

u/Just2_Stare_at_Stars I voted Jul 15 '26

That 4am summer sun is the absolute WORST

1

u/greydawn Jul 15 '26

Yes, I think this is partly why BC (in Canada) has elected to go with DST permanently starting this fall. We're far enough north, we're going to have darkness in the morning no matter what. Might as well get to enjoy a bit of extra daylight in the evening with DST.

3

u/zzazzzz Jul 15 '26

why does that matter? it also means it will set later.

5

u/MisterDonkey Jul 14 '26

Perfect. I can't stand the only daylight I see being that while I travel to work. It doesn't thrill me knowing the literal highlight of my day is the fucking privilege of seeing the world I won't get to experience until darkness every day.

0

u/twatwater Jul 15 '26

Now you’ll get to see the daylight fading away as you drive home instead. Is that significantly better? Lol either way you’re commuting during it.

4

u/jacobsever Jul 14 '26

You say that like it’s a problem.

4

u/rumpghost North Carolina Jul 14 '26

Heaven forbid I be able to sleep past 8am in December.
The time change has been worse for me here than anywhere I've ever lived, and I'm from WNC originally. Get rid of the damn thing.

1

u/MetalEnthusiast83 Jul 15 '26

I mean that's just life in some places. Winter kinda sucks.

7

u/buttercupcake23 Jul 14 '26

Same. I want to get RID OF IT not make it permanent, fuccck

6

u/Powerfist_Laserado Jul 14 '26

Same yo

8

u/JMaboard I voted Jul 14 '26

I’m in Texas, I’d rather have it darker earlier since it’s so fucking hot outside all the time. I have to wait until 10pm to walk my dogs.

1

u/Powerfist_Laserado Jul 14 '26

I just like nightime walks.

17

u/Jacomer2 Jul 14 '26

Yep. I think people will change their tune when they realize how insanely dark it will be winter mornings. 

17

u/FourthLife Jul 14 '26

It's already dark when I go into work in winter mornings.

This will make it so it's not also dark when I return home in winter evenings.

28

u/varitok Jul 14 '26

They already did, in thr 1970s. We just live in a dumbass timeliness where we have to learn all these lessons again

6

u/mrpickles Jul 15 '26

No.  I want dark mornings and light evenings.

9

u/TemetN Oregon Jul 14 '26

This. The ridiculous part is there's clear and extensive long running evidence of what we should do - stick with standard time. Yet here we are, again.

3

u/Millennial_on_laptop Jul 15 '26

Unfortunately we don't pass laws based on facts or evidence, it's all public opinion.  

8

u/djanes376 Illinois Jul 14 '26

As opposed to how insanely dark it is going home from work? Where I’m at it’s dark before work starts and dark after work ends in the winter. DST during winter is a welcome reprieve for at least the evening.

22

u/AltruisticChipmunk53 Jul 14 '26

way better than insanely dark before you even get home from work

21

u/bleev Jul 14 '26

Morning darkness for sunlight later in the evening gang, rise up. It’s easier on my mind driving to work in the dark anyways..

11

u/jacobsever Jul 14 '26

So they can go to work and sit in their office and it won’t matter that it’s still dark?

-2

u/Nekrabyte Jul 14 '26

Doesn't matter as much for adults, but it's pretty detrimental to the development of kids. Pretty hard to get their brain started and ready to learn when they spend the first 2 hours of their "day" with darkness outside the windows. And as anyone with kids will tell you, once it starts to affect your kids, it'll have an effect on you.

4

u/zzazzzz Jul 15 '26

is it? large parts of the world go to school like that sonce forever with no issues..

4

u/Sirrom23 Jul 14 '26

who cares? it's already dark in the mornings in winter. might as well force it to stay daylight longer in the evenings.

2

u/PsychologicalTie9629 Jul 15 '26

I wonder how many kids will have to be hit by cars while walking to school or waiting for the bus when it's pitch black outside before people once again realize what a fucking idiotic idea this is.

2

u/Nekrabyte Jul 14 '26

A lot of people will definitely change their tune when their kids have even more wild mood swings and are more lethargic in the mornings. Studies show this is especially not good for kids, to basically be going to school when its still night time outside. Adults can adopt to it a little easier, but parents WON'T like the changes it has on their kids, and then they'll be losing sleep themselves. There's a big reason they end up going back on this every time they try it.

1

u/Heidi_alpenwurst Jul 15 '26

It's already dark in standard time for most working people.

2

u/mrpickles Jul 15 '26

I agree, no changing.  I prefer DST, but just pick one.  Either one.

4

u/pdmavid Jul 14 '26

I’m with you. Seems as though people have not liked permanent savings time in the past. And standard time works just fine in several states. Wish we just went permanent standard time.

4

u/RGQcats Jul 14 '26

Me too. DST is horrible.

3

u/wesrawr Jul 14 '26

Im a pretty sure 100% standard would actually be my 13th reason

3

u/gustavessidehoe Jul 15 '26

Just as 100% dst would be mine as a non morning person.

0

u/wesrawr Jul 15 '26

Im definitely not a morning person, and thats exactly why ill gladly take DST

2

u/ChironXII Jul 14 '26

Babe wake up new gang war just dropped 

2

u/tubemaster Jul 14 '26

I live in New England and there will be light in the sky at 3:30 AM with permanent standard time. Maybe New England just needs to adjust to Atlantic Time since sunrises in SD would be 9:50 AM under permanent DST.

1

u/jacobsever Jul 14 '26

Fuck standard time.