Make Standard Time permanent, not Daylight Savings Time

We agree with the clear majority of Americans that the semiannual time change is counterproductive, a nuisance, and can actually adversely affect our health.

However, substantial evidence shows that choosing to make Daylight Savings Time (DST) permanent is a mistake, and that Standard Time should be chosen instead. The Senate apparently engaged in very little discussion before passing a bill to make DST permanent, although the American Academy of Sleep Medicine finds that DST (not the time change, but DST itself) brings increased risks of obesity, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and depression. This evidence is endorsed by more than a dozen other organizations, including the National Safety Council and the National Parent Teacher Association. (See Reference 1)

Beth Malow M.D., a Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics and Director of the Sleep Division, Vanderbilt University, has testified before Congress that DST can cause people to get less sleep and produce higher rates of obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and breast and other cancers. (See Reference 2)

Separate from serious health endangerment, DST in the winter requires children to go to school in the dark, a profound safety concern.

An opposing argument, that increased daylight in evening hours causes a drop in crime, is hard to take seriously. Depending on the crime, criminals just wait until dark, regardless of what time your watch says it is.

Another argument, offered by retail industry, that people purchase more during daylight hours, deserves to be taken seriously but is clearly far less significant than rates of heart disease and cancer.

I implore you to modify the Senate’s choice and institute permanent Standard Time in the United States.

Thank you.

References:

1. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/03/16/daylight-saving-bill-health-effects/

2. https://theconversation.com/why-daylight-saving-time-is-unhealthy-a-neurologist-explains-175427