It’s already Fall, which means it’s that time of year when it’s dark by 6:00 p.m. This collective frustration at seeing the sun go down so early reminds us that it will soon be time to change our clocks. Although most Americans dream of getting rid of this twice-yearly time change, the reality is that both state and federal governments seem unwilling to abandon this habit. It looks like we will continue to be subject to the federal law known as the Uniform Time Act of 1966 for another year.
This time change is not subject to the government shutdown, since all citizens can change the time on our clocks without needing approval of the annual budgets. So no, the government shutdown is not an excuse. While everything in Washington is in chaos, the rest of the country must ask why we are not turning our clocks back. Daylight Saving Time (DST) will officially end on November 2, 2025. As the saying goes, “spring forward, fall back,” which means that our clocks will fall back one hour at 2:00 a.m. to return us to Standard Time.
Who invented the damn DST?
If you’re looking for someone to blame for having to change the time twice a year, meet the legendary Benjamin Franklin. Believe it or not, this gentleman was the first to write in a satirical essay that we should get up earlier to take advantage of natural light and thus save money. Mr. Franklin was very funnyback in 1784, and more than two centuries later, we are paying the price for his witticisms.
Although he wrote it as pure satire, it was the first conception of the idea that was eventually implemented. The proposal for modern daylight saving time did not come until more than a century later, in 1895. New Zealand entomologist George V. Hudson was the one who presented the idea, so that he would have more time after work to collect diurnal insects. (Yes, you can also add this gentleman to your list of people to curse every time we change the time.)
However, the opportunity was not seized, as DST was only adopted nationally for the first time in 1916. The German Empire was the first to implement it on April 30 of that year, as a measure to save resources for the war. The fact is that governments only care about the economic use of raw materials such as coal when they are at war. The United States followed suit and introduced the same standard two years later, in 1916. This is how the country established the Standard Time Act of 1918 during World War I (WWI).
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware
If you live along the Atlantic coast, we regret to inform you that there is no escape: the three coastal states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware must switch to standard time. They have neither the legal nor the state-level authority to break with tradition.
And it’s not for lack of trying: the Pennsylvania legislature pushed for legislation in 2023 to establish DST permanently. However, this legislation was never approved by a majority vote. Despite the efforts of citizens, they will have to continue with the biannual time change routine until the U.S. Congress finds a national solution. However, considering that they are unable to pass budgets, we seriously doubt that they are remotely interested in eliminating DST.
For now, the only states in the United States that are exempt from changing the time are Hawaii and Arizona. For geographical reasons, Hawaii is too close to the equator, so it has a variation in the length of the day throughout the year. Meanwhile, Arizona has such an arid climate that it is counterproductive to change the time so that life takes place during the hottest hours of the day. The only exception within the state of Arizona is the Navajo Nation, which maintains federal time for administrative reasons.