On Tuesday, July 14, the House of Representatives of the United States approved 308 votes in favour and 117 against the Sunshine Protection Act, a bill to make the daylight saving time throughout the country. If the norm will be definitively approved by the Senate and signed by the President, the United States will no longer move the hands of the clock forward in spring and back in autumn.
The bill plans to extend to the entire year the time currently used in the summer months. The concrete effects would therefore be noted in winter. In New York, for example, in December the sun would no longer pass at 16:30 but an hour later. Against the mornings of January would be darker much longer, with the dawn postponed from 7:20 to 8:20.
The law provides for exceptions to Hawaii and most of the Arizona, which already adopt solar time all year round and would keep their schedules. It also allows individual states to choose not to join before federal law enters into force, however, provided they always take the solar time. Nineteen American states, including Florida, Texas and Washington state, have already approved local laws to automatically switch to permanent summertime as soon as the federal government will. In the state of New York a similar measure is still in commission for a year and a half.
In the United States, the debate on the opportunity to abolish the change of time has long been going on, contrasting economic and public health reasons. Those who support the permanent legal hour point out that having brighter evenings in winter encourages consumption and social life after work, also helping those suffering from depressive disorders related to the change of season. Fixing the clock would also eliminate small but documented peaks of road accidents and heart problems that occur punctually during the days following the change of time.
Those who oppose, in particular scientists who study the rhythms of sleep, argues instead that the solar hour is the one that best aligns the biological clock to the natural cycle of light and darkness. Regularly starting the days before the sun rises makes awakening and morning concentration more tiring. There is also a question of security, because in the winter months children would find themselves having to go to school and wait for the bus in the dark.
To become executive, the Sunshine Protection Act must now pass the Senate, where the majority leader John Thune will have to decide when to schedule the vote. In the event of a positive outcome, President Donald Trump has already announced that he will sign the law. However, entry into force would not be immediate: complex logistics sectors, such as airlines and digital networks, will need months to reprogram their systems internationally.
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