7mo ago

Daylight savings could actually come to an end if Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's new government efficiency board has its way

fortune.com Daylight savings could actually come to an end if Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy's new government efficiency board has its way

In a series of social media posts over the last week, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has strongly suggested that the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, will end the semiannual clock changes.

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(X) Doubt
DOGE won't be able to do anything because it's a fake office made to keep Elon happy enough to fund Trump. It won't last a year before Musk and Trump hate each other because two narcissists like that can't share a space.
He can recommend ending DST all he wants, but nobody will have to listen to him.
- There is already a push for this though. Not eliminating DST, but making it permanent. This is just DOGE trying to take credit for something that could potentially already happen. Like how the GAO already exists and DOGE is just citing reports the GAO already has done. Nothing says efficiency like putting two people in charge of a program that is duplicating what another agency already does.
  
  Yes please let's end the madness and stay on summer hours year round.
  What is GAO?
- Agree. DST is set by an act of Congress, and it can only be changed by an act of Congress.
- I don't know, do you really have any faith in this Republican congress not to just rubber stamp everything that Trump and his man behind the curtain tells them too?

Something something broken clock is right twice a day…
- in this case, the broken clock is spinning erratically, and is never correct.
  
  A lot of people don't like daylight savings.

I just hope we permanently end Daylight Savings Time and stick with Standard Time. It's detrimental to everyone's health
- Come to New England and see if you still have the same opinion. The sun sets before 4 pm some days of the year. Standard time can go fuck itself.
  
  Yep. We should stay on "spring forward" time, which I believe is DST, year-round. No more stupid changing the clocks, and it may not be dark when you go to AND get off work if you do a regular schedule during the winter. The extra hour of sunlight is just a great summer bonus.
  If they end time changing but keep us on the current time, I'm going to be fucking pissed.
  
  Maybe we could just pin DST on?
  
  My dude, I live in the North as well, but noon is when the sun is at its peak, time is time.
  
  I live in CT. Usually when we do a study on getting rid of DST (studies which never go anywhere) it's about moving to Atlantic standard time, which would be essentially DST year round, rather than EST
- We should stop messing with clocks first.
  Then we can have another 50 years of arguments on standard time vs daylight savings time

“I’ll let you have a hershey’s kiss as a little treat if you finish drinking your glass of sulfuric acid!”

Well, cue the comments about stopped clocks and righteousness.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Protection_Act
Sunshine Protection Act of 2018: Died in committee in House and Senate
Sunshine Protection Act of 2019: Died in committee in House and Senate
Sunshine Protection Act of 2021: Passed Senate, died in committee in House
Sunshine Protection Act of 2023: Referred to the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce
Numerous polls have found that most Americans believe that a standard time should be fixed and permanent—as many as 75% favor no longer changing clocks twice per year.[18] One of the most common observations among researchers of varying backgrounds is that the change itself causes most of the negative effects, more so than either standard time or daylight saving time.[1] Researchers have observed numerous ill effects of the annual transitions, including reduced worker productivity, increased heart attacks and strokes, increased medical errors,[19] and increased traffic incidents.[3]
The debate over the bill mainly concerns whether it is better to have more sunlight in the morning or the evening. A 2023 YouGov poll found that half of Americans supported permanent daylight time, 31% were in favor of permanent standard time, and 19% had no preference or were not sure.
- For anyone who cares about this, please read that carefully. What we want is to keep daylight saving time (summer time) and stop changing the clocks. If you want this and are saying you want to "end daylight saving time" you are saying the opposite of what you want.
- So what you are saying is that to get it approved we just need to sell is as pro-business.

I would like to stop changing the clocks. I read a while back that in the 1970s they did it and reverted back because so many people complain about getting up in the dark. Seems like it would be best to keep the winter hours honestly. All the proposal I've seen want summer time.
- Who wants a 4am sunrise in the summer though? I think more people prefer extra light in the evening since you're out and about already. It doesn't make much different in the winter whether sunrise is at 8am or 9am since everyone is getting up and going to work/school in the dark either way.
  
  What do you do when the sun gets up at 5am? I get up at 7:30. If managed to find a solution for sleeping 2.5 hours in sunlight, I'll do just fine with 3.5.
  
  I've traveled to places near the equator where the sun rises at 4am and once I adapted, I loved it. That being said, and this is key, I wasn't working when I was in those places.
  End time changing. Keep summer time year round. I think we need to stop saying "end daylight saving time" because what we actually want is to keep daylight saving time and stop changing the clocks. It can be confusing. Hopefully somehow this is a nonpartisan issue because the disinformation will be nuts if it gets politicized.
  
  To be fair, a place I go in the US the sun is already coming up at 4 in the summer. Maybe split the difference?
- When I worked in the office, it was dark when I went to work and dark when I got home (in winter). I don't care which one they pick.
  FYI, I was in school in 70s when Ford stopped it. I don't remember it being a big deal. And neither was metric.

I look forward to this.

While I hate changing clocks like most people... I don't see how this is efficient. Think about how many devices already assume the clocks will change. It will cost billions to make the switch.
- I live in a small territory in northern Canada, and we ditched DST a while ago now and my phone and every computer I've used has support for our miniscule population's decision to ditch that garbage.

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