Keep the Time Change- (Rebutal Argument)

Rebuttal Argument

Daylight Savings Time

“Boo to the time change” is an argument proposing that we should stop changing the time twice a year by staying on Standard Time all year or by abandoning the practice of Daylight Saving Time(DST). The evidence of this argument shared how the current changing of time twice a year affects our health, does not save energy, and creates economic loss. The fallacies of this argument can be easily explained by the development and purpose of Daylight Saving Time. I will further share evidence that shares the true Daylight Saving issues dealing with health, energy, and the economy.

   

For this argument, we must first understand what DST is and how it came about. In the United States, DST begins at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday of March by shifting ahead one hour from Standard Time. It changes back to Standard Time on the first Sunday in November. Of the fifty states, only Hawaii and Arizona have stayed on standard time. 

The time changes are tied to each time zone across the U.S.  Time zones were originally developed, by a Canadian railway engineer, Sandford Fleming, in order to standardize the times of the rail systems within Canada and the U.S.  As standard time between each time zone was seen to be more practical for communication and travel, standard time was finally put into U.S. law with the passing of the Standard Time Act of 1918, which was enacted on March 19^th of the same year.

  

The historical development of DST shows the logical reasoning for choosing the current system. The first suggestion of DST was introduced by Ben Franklin in a satirical essay he wrote while acting as an American delegate in Paris, France. In his essay entitled,  “An Economic Project,” he noticed that during the summer time the sun was already well established in the sky by the time most people began to stir from the comfortable confines of their beds. He then conjectured on how much oil for lamps would be saved if people would wake up earlier and take advantage of this free light held back by their closed shutters.  Many people there were intrigued with the idea and continued to correspond with him even after his return to the U.S.

  

More than a century later, a London builder, William Willett, wrote a pamphlet titled, “Waste of Daylight” (need link). He thought that everyone should push their clocks forward 20 minutes for four weeks in April each year and then back at the same increment four weeks in September. Like Franklin, he was so surprised that everyone’s shutters were closed even until the sun was well into the sky. He lamented how the beautiful spring and summer mornings were being wasted.

  

 In the U.S. the DST was first adopted during World War I in order to preserve resources used to produce electricity. Germany began the use of DST and many other European nations followed suit. The U.S. did not official adopt it until 1918, which only lasted 7 months. Most people didn’t like the law because at that time people would wake up earlier and go to bed earlier than they do today. It was later brought back during WWII as “War Time” from February 1942 to September 1945.

  

After the WWII and until 1966, each state and local jurisdiction was allowed to decide whether or not to observe DST and when to implement it. Throughout the country this created confusion and problems for the economy in industries like, broadcasting, railways, airlines, and transportation.  The Time Uniformity Committee of 1966 was created by congress at that time to study the subject.  In its research it found that one 35 mile bus route had to endure 7 different time changes along its route.

In 1966, congress stepped in to remedy the confusion and in April of that year, Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Uniform Time Act of1966. This law established a uniform system of DST through the whole U. S. and its territories except for those states whose legislatures voted them to stay with standard time. DST started on the last Sunday in April and ended on the last Sunday in October.

  

The law was further amended throughout the years in order to better take advantage of the resource of daylight. It was last updated by the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which was implemented in 2007. Since that time we have experienced the earlier shifting of time in the spring and the later shift back in the fall.

Daylight Saving Time has been said to affect a person’s health by adjusting circadian rhythms. A change in a person’s internal body clock could theoretically affect ones sleep patterns which could then affect a person’s health. There is no complete data on DST as being the main cause of sleep disorders which are really the culprit of health issues that could cause a greater risk of heart attack, getting into a car wreck, or even injuring yourself at work.

One of the main health benefits of DST is that of more opportunity to extended exposure to sunlight, which helps the body produce needed vitamin D. It is proven that vitamin D has a role in helping calcium build strong bones. I t also can help regulate the immune system and the neuromuscular system. It is also a pivotal component in the life cycle of human cells. The usefulness of daylight saving time in the summer and the shift back to standard time in the winter can give many people the opportunity to help their bodies produce more vitamin D, which can keep them more healthy than any negative effects of shifting time twice a year.

  

The economic losses stated in the argument are subjective. The 850 million dollars of lost revenue due to lost productivity on the Monday after the Super Bowl is not a comparable example for DST lost revenue. I don’t believe that many people have a major party on the Sunday night after DST has been implemented for the season. Plus, in the fall, people actually get an extra hour of sleep the next morning. This extra hour of sleep in the fall should cancel any negative effects that come from the hour lost in the spring.

The assumed economic losses of this issue are not losses at all. Losses in productivity are typically only a shift in economy. A more proper name for Daylight Saving Time should be Daylight shifting time, or Daylight time shifting. This name would help us realize the true economics of Daylight Saving Time. The loss of production in one industry can typically be a gain for another.  Starbucks  has grown at a tremendous rate since the 1990’s and has grown this last year at a rate of an 11%. The growth that this business has seen has been not just for one day, but has happened over whole seasons.

The observance of Daylight Savings Time is a worldwide phenomenon. Throughout the world times are adjusted in order to make the best use of the natural light that we have through each season. Only one state in the continental U.S. does not adhere to the practice, but even the Navajo Nation within that state uses DST in order to take advantage of the benefits it provides. 

The debate of DST has been reduced to one of opinion, but it is really a discussion that would best be done on a national level. This would allow all states (Arizona and Hawaii excluded if they want)to promote uniformity for all affected industries and commerce. The State of Utah has attempted to enter the debate by the legislators requesting a study to find out what the people want in the state. The outcomes of the polls seems to indicate that many people have varying opinions about DST without understanding much of the background for it. More than 20,000 responded to a poll and stated their opinion to change the law or not. A video of responders to the study in Salt Lake City were only annoyed or irritated by the law and each had their own varied opinion of what to do even though the debate has been decided on a national level for the benefit of all.

There is only one clear choice for this debate. Daylight Savings Time should continue as it has been. The historical purpose has moved the debate forward over decades and has settled on the best solution that is now time tested. To move the time back to Standard time or just to stay on DST would create problems in many industries. The businesses that have adapted to the current use of DST would again have to adjust and adapt again which could cause harm to the economy. Harm would also be to our health without taking advantage of the benefits of extra useful daylight throughout the year. Reason has brought the best solution for this issue to the forefront. Now we should realize that we have the best solution and stop wasting any more time on the subject.