Don’t Forget to Set Your Clocks Back One Hour

By the edhat staff

It’s the time we all love and hate, Daylight Saving Time.

We love the extra hour of sleep, but we hate that it gets dark at 4:00 p.m. and our internal clock is all out of whack. 

More recently, this begruding holiday conjures another thought, “didn’t we vote to eradicate this?” The answer is yes, we did!

In March of this year the U.S. Senate unanimously passed a bill to make daylight-saving time permanent arguing that stopping the twice-annual clock changing would lead to brighter afternoons and more economic activity.

Although, this week Reuters is reporting the bill has stalled in the house with lawmakers unable to reach a consensus.

U.S. Representative Frank Pallone, who chairs the Energy and Commerce Committee that has jurisdiction over the issue, told Reuters that this isn’t a party issue but a regional one.

“We haven’t been able to find consensus in the House on this yet. There are a broad variety of opinions about whether to keep the status quo, to move to a permanent time, and if so, what time that should be,” said Pallone.

The majority of U.S. states have adhered to daylight-saving time since the 1960s. Year-round daylight-saving time was used during World War II and initiated again in 1973 to reduce energy during an oil embargo and repealed a year later. 

Congress is not expected to reach agreement before the end of the year, meaning supporters in the Senate would need to reintroduce the bill next year.

With all of that said, don’t forget to set your clocks back by one hour, Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday.

Additionally, the American Red Cross encourages everyone to test their smoke alarms as they turn their clocks back to help stay safe from home fires.

“Home fires claim more lives in a typical year than all natural disasters combined, but working smoke alarms can cut the risk of dying in a home fire by half,” said Ethan Walker, Regional Prevention and Preparedness Manager. “The sooner an alarm alerts you to a fire, the sooner you can get out. When you turn your clocks back this weekend, also test your smoke alarms to help prevent a tragedy in your home.”

Over the past year local Red Cross volunteers responded to help 304 people in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo Counties affected by 50 home fires, which account for most of the more than 60,000 disasters that the Red Cross responds to annually across the country.