Spring forever forward?

March 12, 2023

Though we’ll have an hour less time this weekend, we recommend that reading “Time Well Spent: An Economic Analysis of Daylight Saving Time Legislation” is indeed time well spent. 

Authored by two University of Washington professors, it’s 15 years old, 47 pages long, heavy on footnotes and light on pictures (in fact, there are none). But before you click away to clear your inbox, consider this: Spend a few minutes skimming this paper and you will know:

Why the history of Daylight Saving Time is so interesting

  • Benjamin Franklin first proposed the idea in a satirical essay, writing that shifting sleeping patterns to coincide with sunlight would save money on candles, and suggesting – tongue in cheek – the ringing of all church bells at sunrise, and “if that is not sufficient, let cannon be fired in every street, to wake the sluggards effectually.” 

Why the future of Daylight Saving Time is so promising 

  • Washington state passed legislation in 2019 to make Daylight Saving Time permanent – but only if allowed by the federal government. Professor Steve Calandrillo sums up the benefits in this Fast Company article. Candle wax efficiency (or rather the 21st century equivalent) remains a major consideration (see point number 3).

What do you think about making Daylight Saving Time permanent?

Let us know on Twitter and LinkedIn

 

We encourage you to add your voice. Please sign in here to submit written testimony. Please enter your address, select Pro, and consider adding some text in the comment field, like:

Please support medium and heavy duty transportation decarbonization programs like:

  • MHD vehicle and infrastructure incentives: $150 million
  • Zero-emission school buses and infrastructure: $15.6 million
  • Zero-emission drayage demonstration (NWSA): $6.3 million

 

The deadline to do this is Wednesday at 3pm.

If you’re a multi-tasker, listen to this excellent podcast from Climate Now while writing your testimony:
The road to decarbonized trucking

Clean & Prosperous Washington is a project of the Washington Business Alliance.
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