Daylight Saving Time Ended Week Ago; Changes Unhealthy, But Debate Over It Neverending Sunday

The annual changes back and forth from Daylight Savings 
Time and Eastern Standard Time negatively affects 
health, experts say

We're a week into the start of Eastern Standard Time, and frankly, I don't like it.  

Here in Vermont under Eastern Standard Time, the sun basically sets in the middle of the afternoon this time of year. Yeah, technically, the sun does't set in Vermont until a little before 4:30 p.m. this time of  year, and around 4:13 near the time of the winter solstice.

But this time of year is so dark and cloudy and dreary that the sun effectively sets much sooner than that. The gathering gloom starts around 3 p.m.  

On paper, you'd think I'd like Eastern Standard Time. I'm actually an early to bed early to rise kinda guy. The sun comes up in the morning a little earlier than it would during Daylight Savings Time. The sun would come up at around 8:25 a.m. under Daylight Savings Time. 

But I don't really mind waking up to darkness in the morning during the winter. It's not like I want to burst open the doors and enjoy the subzero cold on early winter mornings.  

 Apparently, though, my preference for Daylight Savings Time is bad for my health. Well, of course.! Anything that I enjoy or prefer is bad for me. I guess I should spend my life eating kale, which I detest, never having an alcoholic beverage, and never blowing off exercising for just one day. 

But as ABC and pretty much every news organization on the planet reported, daylight savings time would kill you and me. Or something. 

Says ABC:

"Daylight saving time is less aligned with our natural circadian rhythm. The sun rises later and lasts longer in the evening, but our bodies are more attuned to light in the mornings and darkness in the evenings."

When your circadian rhythm is off because of Daylight Saving Time, you tend to feel a little more tired in the morning and awake in the evening. That doesn't sound like such a big deal. 

Except:

Somehow, the twice annual change, especially when we turn the clocks ahead by an hour in March, it can lead to increased strokes, heart attacks and teen sleep deprivation, according to PBS News Hour.

Scientists say it would be better to make Eastern Standard Time permanent instead of Daylight Savings Time. For purely selfish reasons, I don't like it, because I love the long summer evenings that Daylight Savings Time provides. There's still twilight at 10 p.m. locally in June. 

Nevertheless, the U.S. Senate last March passed a bill that would make daylight savings time permanent. The name of the bill is a little obnoxious: The Sunshine Protection Act of 2021. Sorry, this isn't about protected the sun. It'll keep shining no matter what Congress says. 

Still, I like the idea. No fooling around with the clocks every autumn and early spring. Yay! It seems like I'm not the only person who prefers permanent Daylight Savings Time: 

As CNN opines: 

"Making daylight savings time permanent is broadly popular. A Monmouth University poll conducted in March showed that 61 percent of Americans would favor getting rid of our twice-annual clock changes. The survey also found that 44 percent of Americans prefer making daylight savings time permanent, while 13 percent (who are these people!) want to operate on standard time all year."

However, the U.S. House has yet to act on this idea. They haven't taken up the bill, and probably won't during the upcoming lame duck session in the late winter. It's just not a priority. 

It looks like we will be adjusting our clocks back and forth twice a year for the foreseeable future.