The US Congress has the power of war and peace, to tax and spend billions of dollars and to regulate the lives of hundreds of millions of Americans. It even has control of time itself – or, at least, over the time that is displayed on the nation’s clocks.
Since World War One, the US – like many nations around the world – has set its clocks forward during summer hours in order to have more daylight in the afternoon (and, theoretically, conserve electricity), then rolled them back in autumn. On Tuesday, the US Senate voted to do away with that switch, making Daylight Savings Time – the summer month clock settings – permanent year-round.
The legislation, called the Sunshine Protection Act, is the pet project of Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida (whose nickname, perhaps not coincidentally, is “the Sunshine State”). He has been pitching legislation to make Daylight Savings Time permanent for four years, but this is the first time he’s found some success.
The Senate measure was approved by unanimous consent – a process usually reserved for non-controversial legislation like naming post offices, designating disease-awareness days and celebrating sports league champions – just a few days after the US implemented its annual “spring forward” time change.
