What Would Permanent Daylight Saving Time Mean For Southern ...

LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — The Senate unanimously approved legislation Tuesday aiming to make Daylight Saving Time (DST) permanent in the United States, ending the time change Americans experience twice a year.

That’s Daylight Saving Time—not “Savings”—as many tend to say.

The bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act would take effect in November 2023 if passed by the House and signed into law by President Biden.

For southern Nevada, like everywhere else, it would mean later sunrise and later sunset during peak winter months. The effect is greater for states in more northern latitudes.

In Las Vegas, that means winter sunsets would go from about 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunrise would shift from about 6:50 a.m. at the earliest to 7:50 a.m., according to Matt Woods, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service (NWS) Las Vegas.

Woods said changing the clocks permanently doesn’t mean the sun rises at any different time (from a scientific standpoint).

KSNV

“It's pretty arbitrary,” he said. “The sun and earth still follow the same cycles, so no real change other than just how we perceive it here on earth time.”

He also added that peak summer heat would come an hour later.

The idea of shifting to a permanent clock change isn’t a new idea in Nevada.

In March 2021, Republican State Senator Joe Hardy from Boulder City proposed a similar bill. He tied it into a California proposal to ensure both states remained on the same time. The bill died in April last year.

Still reeling from Sunday’s loss of an hour, many News 3 viewers support the idea.

In a Twitter poll, about 80% of respondents voted in favor of permanent DST as of Tuesday night.

On Facebook, a post asking if viewers supported the move garnered 1.5 thousand likes and over 800 comments, many of which called for an end to the time changes.

“Just pick a time and leave it alone this back and forth is hard on the body and it use to have a purpose but hasn’t in a couple of generations,” wrote one Facebook commenter.

“Keep the sunshine just a bit longer; especially in Dec and Jan . All for it,” wrote another.

Opponents of the move say the later sunrise during peak winter months makes morning driving dangerous, especially for children going to school.

But medical professionals support a move to ditch “springing forward” and “falling back.”

“Losing that hour causes people to feel undue stress; their cortisol spikes, their flight, and fright kicks in, they seem to be under-rested, and then they're groggy. They're trying to overdose on caffeine to get through the morning,” said Dr. Daliah Wachs, a family medicine physician, and syndicated radio host. “That's why I think we see the workplace injuries, the car accidents, the spike in blood pressure, stroke.”

Dr. Wachs said studies have shown “spring forward” typically brings an 8% increase in strokes and a 24% increase in heart attacks.

She admitted she prefers Standard Time (like Arizona or Hawai’i), but said, as a health professional, she’d be happy with a permanent switch to DST.

Historically speaking, Daylight Saving Time is often wrongfully attributed to Benjamin Franklin, said Michael Green, associated professor of history at UNLV.

Franklin had sent a letter to a publication in Paris regarding a discussion on whether there were enough candles to get through the year. According to Green, Franklin said waking up earlier in the summer would mean fewer candles.

In the US, DST took effect in 1918 during the first World War.

"It's partly the idea 'We're all pitching in for the war effort,'" said Green. "So having a few extra hours a day to work, was appealing to some people. And critics would later refer to it as Daylight Saving Time."

The U.S. tried to move to permanent DST in the 1970s, but the move fizzled out quickly.

With Tuesday's Senate bill passage, Green said it's the most promising attempt he's seen to bring back permanent change.

"This would be the biggest momentum," he said. "I'd say the Senate these days often can't agree on whether water is wet. And they were able to pass this. It'll be interesting to see what the House does."

Contact reporter Brett Forrest at [email protected]. Follow @brettforrest89 on Twitter or @brettforrestKRNV on Facebook.