Race against the Clock

The debate over Daylight Saving — and it’s not “savings,” there’s no “s” at the end — is between the early birds and the night owls. The rest is noise in the forest.

Here’s the story: The Senate, after years of dawdling, voted unanimously this month not to fall back an hour in November 2023 and to stay on Daylight Saving Time permanently. No more changing the clock. For the Senate to vote in unison on anything is as rare as a Russian soldier in Kyiv — which leads many people to think it has already become law. If I were to count every person who told me so as an informal poll, it would be a landslide. A living-daylight landslide.

But the Senate does not set laws on its own. There’s still the House and President Biden, neither of whom were consulted prior to the vote. In the meantime, Congress has, er, stopped the clock on the sun-loving bill, which was spearheaded by Senator Marco Rubio of the Sunshine State.

The Arguments

The opinions for and against the time-keeping shakeup are as many as the rays of the sun. Environmentalists love it, since it would supposedly reduce fuel usage, while schools hate it, since it would send children to the bus stop in the dark on winter mornings. Golfers love it, since it would give them another hour on the greens, while Muslims hate it, since it would add a daily hour of famishment to their monthlong Ramadan fast. The tourism industry loves it, since visitors spend money every hour they’re out about town, while global companies hate it, since it puts their clocks out of sync with Europe. Shops dependent on afternoon customers love it, while coffee shops reliant on morning-commuting employees hate it.