Oregon is trying to abolish daylight saving time for the time being, but is not succeeding

The Oregon Senate failed to advance a bill Tuesday that would have eliminated daylight saving time in most of the state and switched it to standard time for the entire year. or jump all the way forward.

The bill proposed that the part of the state that is in the Pacific Time Zone — almost all of the state is, except Malheur County, which is in Mountain Time — “would account for the annual one-hour change in time from standard time to daylight saving time abolish. ”

The measuring unit isn't quite dead yet: The Senate sent the bill back to committee for amendments to ensure that, if it were to happen, Oregon wouldn't be the only state in the region to switch to permanent standard time.

Lawmakers in Oregon's neighboring states have introduced similar bills. This week in Idaho a bill was introduced to get rid of daylight saving time, and there is a similar bill before the California Assembly. A bill in Washington state to abolish daylight saving time and return to permanent standard time failed last month.

“We are leading the way,” Kim Thatcher, a sponsor of the bill in Oregon, said in the Senate this week before the bill failed. “I think we won't be alone in this, but there may be something strange going on at first, just know that.”

Oregon is said to have been the first state on the West Coast to spend the entire year in standard time. Arizona (except the Navajo Nation) and Hawaii also use standard time year-round. And in 2022, Mexico ended daylight saving time for most of the country, but made an exception for the area along the US border.

Daylight saving time has long been a topic of discussion. Why do we change the clock at all? Is this still – sorry – timely? And if we goods If we stopped changing our clocks, would we freeze them on standard time or daylight saving time?

Since 2007, daylight saving time in the United States begins on the second Sunday in March, when the clocks jump forward one hour, and ends on the first Sunday in November, when they fall back. (Get ready: This year the clocks jump forward on March 10 and go back on November 3.)

The main idea behind daylight saving time was to move an hour of sunlight from early morning to evening so that people can make more use of daylight. Benjamin Franklin, while in France in the 18th century, is often credited with being the first to suggest this.

Another argument in favor of changing the clock, according to some, is that having sunlight later in the day can save energy costs, but there are conflicting studies about whether that is really the case. People don't seem to be fans, either: According to polls over the years, most Americans don't like changing the clock twice a year, and the days after the switch can be a turbulent time for public health. Daylight saving time still has some supporters, especially among business advocates who argue it helps strengthen the economy.

The U.S. Senate passed legislation in 2022 that would eliminate the time changes and make daylight saving time permanent. The US House of Representatives has not yet taken up the measure.

That bill differs from Oregon's proposal, which would stop the clock on standard time.

Scientists generally prefer a permanent change to standard time (the time in winter) over daylight saving time (the time in summer).

“Our ability to sleep well, as we know from experience, is profoundly affected by light exposure,” Bill Griesar, a teaching assistant professor at Portland State University, wrote in public testimony this month. He added that standard time “best matches the natural circadian rhythms of our own brains and bodies, allowing us to wake up to sunlight more days per year.”

(In other words, in permanent daylight saving time most people are likely to travel to work in the dark, but in standard time the sun is likely to rise around that time.)

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine called for its abolition of daylight saving time in 2020, saying the shifts, by disrupting the body's natural clock, could cause an increased risk of strokes and cardiovascular events, and lead to more traffic accidents.