It’s been hailed as a bipartisan triumph.
“Ooh, I love it,” exclaimed Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.
“An idea whose time has come,” said GOP Sen. Marco Rubio.
“Common-sense legislation,” Democratic Sen. Patty Murray labeled it.
The Sunshine Protection Act, which cleared the Senate by unanimous consent last month, would make Daylight Saving Time permanent across the United States.
If the legislation can pass the House (where support appears less enthusiastic) and earn President Joe Biden’s signature, there would be no more falling back every year in the fall. More daylight and no more changing the clock.
Sounds nice, right? Not so fast.
The Senate’s enthusiasm for permanent Daylight Saving Time masks a very real debate at the intersection of human psychology, the economy and our collective sleep cycle.
First, some background. There’s an age-old myth that daylight saving was a practice adopted to give farmers extra time in the sun to work out in the field. But that’s not really why dozens of countries follow it.
