The Senate voted unanimously last Tuesday to make daylight saving time permanent and stop making changes twice a year, saying such changes are frustrating, outdated, and confusing.
first, step taken
Those were the exact words spoken by the promoter of the law, Florida Senator Marco Rubio who, when presenting his project, among other arguments, drew a direct causal link between the time changes and the increased incidence of heart attacks and car accidents.
Another of those who supported this law was Rhode Island State Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who assured that the time change literally ‘darkened’ the lives of Americans, since, in December in the homes of some citizens, in winter the night falls at 4 in the afternoon.
Although the Senate has given its approval to this bill, its future is still uncertain, since for it to enter into force it must be approved in the House and then promulgated by President Joe Biden, who has the power to veto it, although He has not disclosed what his position will be on the matter.
Originally, the main idea behind the time change was to match the hours of activity with those of the sun, reduce the use of artificial lighting, save energy and limit the amount of CO2 that is emitted into the atmosphere as the cause of electricity generation and that affects the aggravation of climate change.
Countries that have abandoned the time change
- Argentina: Daylight saving time was suspended in 2009.
- Russia: It was officially repealed by decree of President Dmitry Medvedev, in February 2011 in the face of continued hostility on the part of the population to the time change and on the advice of scientists and experts interviewed by the executive. In 2014, during the night of October 25 to 26, they made a new time change imposing winter time for the entire year.
- Belarus: repealed it in 2011.
- Armenia: no time change since 2012
- Egypt: from 1988 to 2009 there were 2 annual time changes, in 2010 there were 4 and in 2011 they were abolished.
- Tunisia: instead of changing the legal schedule, they change the schedules of activities in summer, to save energy and promote adaptation to the summer heat: most Tunisians work from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. approximately and on Fridays until 1:30 p.m.
- Brazil: Except for the 32 municipalities of Mato Grosso, the rest of the country has not made time changes since 2011. In 2019, the repeal of the time change was complete.
- Turkey: The Turkish Council of Ministers decided in September 2016 to abolish the time change
- Azerbaijan: abandoned the time change in 2016.
- Namibia: repealed it in 2017.
More countries are thinking about it
Worldwide many other nations have proposed to end the time change since their citizens complain that they do not see benefits and allege that each change causes problems for many people, especially children and the elderly. who find it difficult to adapt.
This problem also arises in Europe the European Commission had proposed in September 2018 to abolish it in 2019. But the European Parliament voted in March 2019 to postpone it to 2022.
