LISTEN: Should we observe daylight saving time year-round?
Mar 13, 2024, 7:30 PM | Updated: Mar 14, 2024, 1:01 pm
A winter sunrise from Muley Point on Cedar Mesa, within the boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument. It’s now been a few days since daylight saving time started, and it seems like a lot of people are feeling tired and sleepy. (Dave Cawley/KSL Podcasts)
(Dave Cawley/KSL Podcasts)
SALT LAKE CITY — It’s now been a few days since daylight saving time started, and it seems like a lot of people are feeling tired and sleepy. To avoid the grumpiness of it all, should we stick with daylight saving time year-round?
Rep. Celeste Maloy wants to let states observe daylight saving time year-round, so she reintroduced the Daylight Act.
She joined KSL NewsRadio to explain what it is and why she’s pushing for this.
Listen below:
Utah actually is already on board with this. The state joined 19 others back in 2020 passing a law that would permanently stay sprung forward. It’s just that Utah’s law doesn’t become effective unless Congress changes the federal law.
The U.S. Senate approved the Sunshine Protection Act in 2022, which would get rid of daylight saving time. But the bill got locked up in the House. If that bill had been approved, it would have made the change effective in fall of 2023.
But what’s better for your health? Daylight saving time year-round or not?
Dr. Krishna Sundar is a professor of pulmonary medicine at the University of Utah and the medical director of Sleep-Wake Center. He told KSL NewsRadio’s Dave & Dujanovic about the effects of twice-yearly clock switching on our health.
“A number of surveys have found that at least a third of Americans do not meet the required seven to eight hours of sleep time,” Sundar said. “So in your case, that’s not unusual. And it may take a while for you to catch up.”
KSL at Night can be heard most weekdays from 7 to 9 p.m.
