The debate over daylight saving time
TODAY'S STARTING POINT
You might wake up this weekend feeling a little tired.
At 2 a.m. on Sunday, clocks across the country will jump forward by an hour as daylight saving time begins. The result will be later sunrises and an additional hour of light in the evenings.
I'm decidedly not a morning person, so that trade sounds good to me (other than the lost hour of sleep). But the debate has raged ever since Congress set up the current system in 1966. Some critics favor effectively making daylight saving time — the hours we're moving to this weekend — permanent. Others would prefer year-round standard time, the hours we'll return to this fall. And still others think twice-a-year clock-switching beats the alternatives.
Today's newsletter examines the pros and cons.
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Daylight saving forever
The case for making daylight saving time year-round has a few components.
Some argue that it would boost the economy, as Americans spend their extra hour of light later in the day
working, shopping, or dining out. Others note that later daylight is associated with less crime. And evidence suggests that the original purpose of daylight saving time — conserving electricity — no longer applies thanks to more efficient modern lighting.
Year-round daylight saving could also make Americans healthier. Studies show that shifting the clock — both 'springing forward' in the spring and 'falling back' in the fall —
Some advocates have tried to legislate a fix. For years, Senator Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat, has co-sponsored a bipartisan bill to make daylight saving permanent. 'This head-spinning ritual of falling back and springing forward has gone on long enough,' he
The closest that bill got to passing was in 2022, when it cleared the Senate unanimously —
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Standard time year-round
Others favor going the other way: permanently falling back rather than springing forward.
Year-round standard time would mean earlier sunrises and sunsets. Beyond safer morning commutes and the health benefits of not disrupting circadian rhythms, some health experts argue that lighter mornings and darker evenings better match the human body's natural cycles. 'It maximizes morning light, which aligns our brains and bodies to the outside world and improves sleep and mood,' one doctor told Hiawatha.
The downside revolves around just how much light and how early. Under permanent standard time, the sun would rise before 5 a.m. for months and set before 8 p.m.,
Still, some Americans have embraced the change. Hawaii and most of Arizona have standard time year-round, alongside Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, and the US Virgin Islands.
What's next?
But the status quo also has defenders. Splitting the year between standard time and daylight saving time offers the best of both, some say. It avoids too-early sunrises and sunsets in the summer and kids going to school in the winter darkness.
Change, some add, can be its own virtue. Springing forward '
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There also isn't much public consensus about what to do.
In Massachusetts, lawmakers have
So no matter the arguments for or against, any local or nationwide change — in either direction — seems unlikely to happen soon.
Until then, experts recommend going to bed and waking up earlier before the time change, and going outside in the mornings afterwards,
That means the debate over daylight saving will drag on. Now we'll just have an extra hour to fight about it before the sun goes down.
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POINTS OF INTEREST
Ronald Estanislao, a juror in the first Karen Read trial.
Erin Clark/Globe Staff
Boston and Massachusetts
Falling behind:
Boys and men in the state
Brown season:
Discolored drinking water — from manganese contamination — plagues Massachusetts communities
Guilty or not:
A juror in the first Karen Read trial said he kept
Separately, a blogger known as 'Turtleboy,' already charged with intimidating witnesses in the Read case,
Skyline snafu:
A leaked invite to a private fundraiser for mayoral candidate Josh Kraft
Lexington vs. Concord:
The famous towns'
AI's on the prize:
Two AI pioneers who began their work at UMass Amherst won tech's equivalent of the Nobel Prize. (
Just keep swimming:
Great whites off Cape Cod also travel up to Maine's coast, researchers
Trump administration
Unfrozen:
A judge ordered the administration to
Dodging:
Trump told his cabinet that they, not Elon Musk, are in charge of staffing at their agencies. (
Punished:
House Republicans, joined by 10 Democrats, voted to censure Al Green, a Texas Democrat, for interrupting Trump during his speech to Congress. (
Foregone conclusion:
The Trump administration accused Maine of breaking federal law by letting transgender athletes play girls sports. (
Skipping town:
The US Small Business Administration will
The room where it doesn't happen:
The musical 'Hamilton' canceled a planned run at the Kennedy Center in Washington after Trump took over the arts institution last month. (
The Nation and the World
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Measles update:
An unvaccinated person in New Mexico tested positive for the virus after their death. An outbreak is ongoing in nearby West Texas. (
Turnabout:
California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, called transgender athletes competing in female sports 'deeply unfair' on an episode of his podcast that featured Charlie Kirk, a staunch Trump supporter. (
Smoke rises:
Vaping is climbing in popularity
faster than cigarette smokers are quitting, CDC data shows. Tobacco use remains the country's leading cause of preventable death. (
Game, set, mat:
Saudi Arabia is funding a maternity program for professional women's tennis players that includes parental support and grants for IVF. (
Accidental bombing:
Two South Korean fighter jets mistakenly bombed a village during a drill, injuring at least 15 people. (
He speaks
: Pope Francis, weak and breathless, thanked people for their prayers in an audio message recorded at the hospital where he's recovering from pneumonia. (
BESIDE THE POINT
🗓️
For your calendar:
From stellar concerts to bustling book sales, don't miss these
📽️
'If you wreck it, they will leave':
This new baseball movie is
✈️
Pack your bags:
An Icelandair survey named Boston as the
🌝
Little lunar lander:
This thumb-size moon robot from MIT
❤️
Love Letters:
Distance is making this lover's heart
✏️
Drawing attention:
These architectural sketches, on display at the Athenaeum, show
🏒
Slipping and sliding:
Private money has taken over boys' hockey in Massachusetts, creating
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