Ethan Maglione
Staff Writer
In 1966, the Uniform Time Act was put into place to promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones. This act was brought forward because there was no general consensus as to when daylight savings time was, and how far the clocks should be set back.
However, a newly proposed bill, HB0044, would create a permanent daylight savings time zone in Wyoming. This is the second time someone has attempted to make Wyoming into a permanent daylight savings time zone, but unlike last time, the bill seems to be gaining support.
Monday, HB0044 passed its second reading, and is due to move onto its third reading which will mark the legislation’s passage into a legislative chamber.
“I honestly don’t have a huge preference over having daylight savings or not. If I were forced to pick a side I would be against daylight savings time because I prefer to have my daylight in the evening rather than the morning,” said Tyler Brewer, a UW freshman.
Permanent daylight savings is not a new concept, as states like Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington have all passed legislation to disregard daylight savings. According to ProcOn.org, this would have a lot of benefits.
“Later daylight means more people shopping after work, increasing retail sales and more people driving, increasing gas and snacks sales for eight months of the year…It also has the obvious benefits such as not having to turn back or push forward clocks, as well as giving an extra hour of daylight,” states ProCon.org’s article.
However there are also some problems with permanent daylight savings time zone. Many people cite the fact that daylight savings is linked to health issues.
“Setting your clock forward 1 hour for DST in spring might mean losing an hour of sleep in the morning after the change. For some people, this may just be a minor annoyance. However, the lack of sleep can have unfortunate effects in those predisposed…Losing 1 hour of afternoon daylight after setting the clocks back to standard time can trigger mental illness, including bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder (SAD),” states TimeandDate.com.
Another common complaint against daylight savings time is it has very little effect on power consumption. According to Energy.gov, daylight savings time only saves about 0.5% of energy per day. However, 0.5% of power translates to 1.3 billion kilowatts, which is generally enough to power 100,000 households a year.
Despite the fact not many people know about HB0044, the bill went into its third hearing Monday, and may become law.
