Historically, changing clocks in any direction has been unpopular among Americans—but staying on DST versus staying on standard is more contentious. DST has been condemned by many experts in sleep medicine, though not all. In a 2020 position statement, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine called for DST to be eliminated, citing “an abundance of accumulated evidence indicat[ing] that the acute transition from standard time to daylight saving time incurs significant public health and safety risks, including increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events, mood disorders, and motor vehicle crashes.”

This week, the Senate voted unanimously to do … exactly the opposite. They passed the Sunshine Protection Act, which would make DST permanent. It’s unclear if any of the Senators understood that distinction (make permanent versus eliminate), as there was no debate, and apparently some didn’t even know the vote was taking place.

It’s not at all certain that the House will take up the bill, but I do hope this isn’t the end of the debate. There are legitimate arguments for maintaining DST, like that it allows people more light in the beautiful summer evenings for people to get outside and move around and socialize. But then, the same might be said of morning light. And in places where it’s unsafe to go out before dawn, there is much work to be done to improve the social structure of the community, and asking everyone to change their clocks is an unpopular half-measure.