Free Republic

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the March 9 switch to daylight saving time (DST) approaches in the U.S., the majority of Americans (54%) say they are ready to do away with the practice. By contrast, 40% of U.S. adults say they are in favor of daylight saving time, while 6% are uncertain. These findings come from a Jan. 21-27 Gallup poll, which marks the first time Gallup has measured Americans’ opinions about daylight saving time since 1999. During the 26-year interlude, views about the practice have shifted dramatically. In 1999, 73% favored daylight saving time, similar to the 74% who did...

President-elect Donald Trump wants to turn the lights out on daylight saving time. In a post on his social media site Friday, Trump said his party would try to end the practice when he returns to office. “The Republican Party will use its best efforts to eliminate Daylight Saving Time, which has a small but strong constituency, but shouldn’t! Daylight Saving Time is inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation,” he wrote. Setting clocks forward one hour in the spring and back an hour in the fall is intended to maximize daylight during summer months, but has long been subject...

Everyone not named Franklin D. Roosevelt hates Daylight Saving Time. The constant back and forth is confusing, especially for those who have an early Sunday morning commitment. The Standard Time Act of 1918 gave the federal government power to oversee national time zones. That power was extended with the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966, which allows the Department of Transportation (DOT) to set Daylight Saving Time for the entire country. Why DOT? Because "time standards are important for many modes of transportation," or something like that. Despite decades of observance, however, more and more Americans are rebelling...

“Last week, Florida’s legislature overwhelmingly voted for permanent Daylight Saving Time for the State of Florida,” said Rubio. “Reflecting the will of the Sunshine State, I proudly introduce these bills that would approve Florida’s will and, if made nationally, would also ensure Florida is not out of sync with the rest of the nation.”Er, Marco, afaik Gov. Scott has yet to take action on the bill.The article states that DST "Benefits the economy""Benefits the agricultural economy""Reduces car crashes and car wrecks involving pedestrians""Reduces childhood obesity"bring "Increased physical fitness"and bring a "Positive impact on wildlife conservation"ff

Back in 1784, hanging out in Paris and heady with Enlightenment, Benjamin Franklin had an idea. Struck by the fact that Parisians were sleeping during sunlight hours and then staying up late at night by candlelight, he calculated the number of candles that were being wasted -- and came up with a very impressive number, 64 million pounds worth of them. Franklin therefore jokingly proposed a massive schedule change, noting that a fortune could be saved through "the economy of using sunshine instead of candles," and even suggested at one point that perhaps cannons be fired at sunrise to get...

Russia will turn back its clocks for the last time on Sunday to permanently adopt winter hours. It will also increase its time zones from nine to 11, from the Pacific to the borders of the European Union. For the last three years, Russia experimented with keeping permanent summer time, but it proved to be highly unpopular with many Russians. The Soviet Union introduced Daylight Saving Time in 1981. In 2011, then President Dmitry Medvedev introduced measures to reduce Russia's time zones to nine, and to keep summer time all year round. Russians put their clocks forward one hour but...

Finally, America -- or most of it -- will get an extra hour of sleep Sunday morning when Daylight Saving Time ends. And the scam that we'll be more productive and save money on electricity bills because there was an extra hour of daylight will be put on hiatus until next spring. The only good things about turning the clock back an hour before going to bed Saturday night is that you'll get an extra hour of sleep, and it's a good reminder to change the batteries on smoke alarms. Otherwise, this whole dance about saving money is a waste...