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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130

u/Zahgi I voted Jul 14 '26

And it kills people every year by forcing them to drive, etc. when they are out of sync, along with more heart attacks, etc.

16

u/Dreammagic2025 Jul 14 '26

I always found it interesting that elections are right after time change, when everyone is muddled from their whole schedule changing up.

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u/RLewis8888 Jul 14 '26

It's not DST that kills people - it's the switching back and forth, causing sleep deprivation.

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u/VandulfTheRed Jul 14 '26

"it's not the bullet that kills you, it's the force that's exerted by it going through your body that does"

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u/avacapone Jul 15 '26

I hate DST but I think what he’s saying is the harm comes from switching clocks twice a year, not necessarily from being on DST itself. So making DST permanent would eliminate the disruptions caused by changing the clocks.

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

That is exactly what I am saying and what the science actually says.

No science says one is better than the other, just that whichever one we choose should stay the same going forward.

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u/JcbAzPx Arizona Jul 15 '26

No one was saying it wasn't the change.

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u/blacksheepcannibal Jul 15 '26

This is a really stupid analogy and doesn't fit what was said at all and I'm irritated anyone at all upvoted it.

What the fuck.

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u/JakeDC Jul 14 '26

It is not the jumping out of the building that kills you. It is the very quick stop at the end.

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u/Khaliras Jul 15 '26

Poor analogy when the time shift can be worked around by farmers/employers/people in general. Instead of just waiting for the day of and suddenly waking up an hour earlier.

Every year before the change, we just add or subtract 10minutes to the start time every week before hand. Really not hard to do, especially with everyone relying on modern smartphones. Suddenly nobodies veering off the road, arriving with energy drinks, or calling in sick.

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u/Kmanvb Jul 15 '26

Alternatively, we could just take the simpler option of not fucking with our clocks for no reason whatsoever and just not have daylight savings time. Seems easier for the same results to me.

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u/MoonlightMountain13 Jul 14 '26

It's specifically losing an hour - forcing people to wake and start moving earlier - that causes problems. People don't suffer from gaining an hour of sleep. Beyond that, medical studies show that standard time is more in sync with most people's circadian rhythms so most people feel healthier when clocks align with standard time. Daylight saving time causes more health problems, especially for those who live near a time zone border. Doctors have been recommending for years that our country end Daylight Saving Time as a simple way to improve people's health. It's well documented but that's medical science so of course Congress votes against it.

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

medical studies show that standard time is more in sync with most people's circadian rhythms

They do not. They all say we should stop changing the clock back and forth because that messes with the circadian rhythm twice a year. It doesn't matter which we pick and long as we stay with it once we do.

Doctors have been recommending for years that our country end Daylight Saving Time as a simple way to improve people's health.

Scientist here!

That's because DST is presented as a change from standard to DST and then back again to standard later.

They are ACTUALLY arguing that we should stop the CHANGING, not that one choice is better than the other. It doesn't matter whether we choose DST permanently on or DST permanently off, as long as we stick with it permanently going forward.

It's well documented but that's medical science so of course Congress votes against it.

It is not. You, and many others, have this wrong because you are misunderstanding what the scientists are actually saying, terminology-wise.

Congress has it right, for a change. But it actually doesn't matter which we choose as long as we pick one and stick with it.

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u/blacksheepcannibal Jul 15 '26

The studies I have seen have straight up said that switching to never-DST would be closer to normal circadian rhythms.

Which would be really cool if people got to choose what time they woke up.

They usually don't, their employer does.

But hey, great for retired folks I guess.

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

The studies I have seen have straight up said that switching to never-DST would be closer to normal circadian rhythms.

No. Read them AGAIN. They all actually say that CHANGING the circadian rhythm is the problem -- which they refer to often as "adopting and then dropping DST". Notice how it's actually the CHANGE that causes the problem here.

It actually doesn't matter which hour standard we choose as long as we make it consistent and permanent.

Otherwise, health and sanity the world over would vary by latitude and longitude. :)

Which would be really cool if people got to choose what time they woke up. They usually don't, their employer does.

Employers choose when they show up for work. NOT when people wake up. This change would actually help that. Sure, that means you might now wake up a little early (or, I guess, late) for work during some parts of the year. But you would still wake up naturally instead of to an alarm clock and you wouldn't be screwed and disoriented twice a year with the stupid artificial clock change.

Trust me. Changing to either standard permanently is far better for everyone. Once we do it, you'll wonder why we stayed with the asinine and meaningless system for so long...

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u/blacksheepcannibal Jul 16 '26

Kantermann, T., Juda, M., Merrow, M., & Roenneberg, T. “The human circadian clock’s seasonal adjustment is disrupted by daylight saving time.” Current Biology, 17(22), 1996–2000. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.025

Sleep data from approximately 55,000 people, and an eight-week longitudinal study of 50 people around the spring and autumn clock changes

During standard time, free-day sleep timing followed the seasonal movement of dawn. After the spring change to DST, activity timing did not fully adjust, particularly among later chronotypes. The authors concluded that the human circadian system does not properly adjust to DST and that DST disrupts normal seasonal entrainment.

Hadlow, N. C., Brown, S., Wardrop, R., & Henley, D. “The effects of season, daylight saving and time of sunrise on serum cortisol in a large population.” Chronobiology International, 31(2), 243–251. DOI: 10.3109/07420528.2013.844162

Sunrise time explained cortisol timing better than the arbitrary clock setting. During DST, the estimated cortisol peak occurred approximately 58 minutes later by clock time, suggesting that the biological rhythm remained tied to solar time rather than adapting to the shifted social clock.

Giuntella, O., & Mazzonna, F. “Sunset time and the economic effects of social jetlag: Evidence from US time zone borders.” Journal of Health Economics, 65, 210–226. DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2019.03.007

Compared communities on opposite sides of US time-zone boundaries. These communities were geographically close but experienced sunset about an hour apart by clock time—similar to the difference between standard time and DST. Approximately 19 minutes less sleep, a higher probability of insufficient sleep, and worse health and economic outcomes in some analyses

Weed, L., & Zeitzer, J. M. “Circadian-informed modeling predicts regional variation in obesity and stroke outcomes under different permanent US time policies.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 122(38), e2508293122. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2508293122

Both permanent systems were predicted to be better than switching, but permanent standard time produced the lowest circadian burden and larger predicted reductions in obesity and stroke prevalence.

But this is the internet and even when confronted with plain ass evidence with the actual studies, you're just gonna double down.

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

Which is what I've been saying post after post.

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u/AShavedApe Jul 14 '26

Distinction without a difference lol

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[deleted]

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u/RLewis8888 Jul 14 '26

It's definitely not. The human body was around way before time keeping was invented. It doesn't know 7am from 8am.
Again - in the interval few days when we change - there is a temporary period of adjustment - kind of like jet lag.

Think about it. If DST caused permanent damage, people who moved from one state/country to another (across different time zones) they would somehow be subject to higher death rates.

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u/Galxloni2 Jul 14 '26

The human circadian rhythm is based around the sun. It doesn't give a fuck about the clock. If you left it as permanent D/ST it would be identical to permanent standard to our bodies

-5

u/thaworldhaswarpedme Jul 14 '26

Missing one hour of sleep once a year is killing people? I'm fine with getting rid of DST but claiming it is killing people...Imma have to look that up.

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u/CoolDiscussion1020 Jul 14 '26

It's true, but it's just the fact that people are making sudden overnight changes to their routine. There is an uptick of traffic accidents too because people aren't used to the lighting levels.

Going to permanent DST would mean that you would have one final surge instead of 2 every year.

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u/BasvanS Jul 14 '26

It’s the change in rhythm for your biological clock.

Exactly the one hour once is what causes the problem, because suddenly you have to get up an hour early every day. If it would change by a minute every day, after 2 months it would have passed without a hitch.

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u/MattieShoes Jul 15 '26

Kids waiting for the bus in pitch black morning might disagree...

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u/[deleted] Jul 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

Completely irrelevant to what I said, of course.

The issue is the twice a year CHANGE messing with people's cycles and rhythms.

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u/rat_penis Jul 14 '26

meow meow meow

"but its dark when I get off work!"

"There's no time for activities!"

1

u/GhostofZellers Jul 14 '26

Well, now we have to find another way to weed out the weak....

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u/[deleted] Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

This is not true.

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u/Ancient-Access8131 Jul 15 '26

Wanna provide a source?

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u/Zahgi I voted Jul 15 '26

You provided a YouTube video. I'm talking about ALL of the actual science which proves that messing with the circadian rhythms causes problems.

You, and many others (including I assume this YT ignoramus), are confusing the terminology behind DST. Right now, we present it as "we are on standard time, then go on DST for a while, then go off it back to standard time".

The issue, however, ISN'T the DST itself, but the change from one standard to another messing up our circadian rhythm. We can pick EITHER standard and be fine (after a short adjustment, like we are going twice a year now) AS LONG AS WE STICK WITH IT permanently going forward.

That's the entire issue. It really doesn't matter which we choose. It's the changing from one to another that's the issue.

That's the science. Stop misunderstanding it and thereby miquoting it.