Why does California still use daylight saving time? Here’s what to know as clocks switch

Daylight saving time is ending this weekend, which means Sunday morning could come with an extra hour of sleep.

Here’s everything you need to know about the time change and why California still participates in the time switch.

When will clocks change?

Daylight saving time — when clocks get pushed forward by an hour so that darkness falls at a later time in spring and summer — ends this Sunday, Nov. 7. Clocks will “fall back” to standard time at 2 a.m. This year, daylight saving time was in effect for 34 weeks, since March 14.

And when you’re coordinating Zoom calls across time zones, remember that you can go back to saying PST, or Pacific Standard Time, instead of PDT, or Pacific Daylight Time.

Why does daylight saving time exist?

The concept of daylight saving time goes way back. Benjamin Franklin was a big supporter in the 1700s. But the U.S. didn’t institute daylight saving time until 1918, when it was introduced as an energy saving measure during World War I.

The policy was unpopular, though, and it was repealed after the war over President Woodrow Wilson’s objections. Then, in 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted a year-round daylight saving time, again to save energy to support the war effort.

Daylight saving time, which now takes up about eight months of the year, was made permanent with the 1966 Uniform Time Act. It has been expanded since then to encompass the longer time period.

Does daylight saving time actually save energy?

The theory is that if people spend more of their waking hours when the sun is up, they won’t need to use as much electricity. But it’s not clear that daylight saving time leads to any real conservation. Instead, any savings made by keeping lights off might be offset by changes in heating and cooling needs.

What daylight saving time really benefits is business. That extra hour of daylight is great for retailers and recreational industries like golf and tennis. An extra hour of daylight is an extra hour for people to spend money.

Didn’t California try to get rid of daylight saving time switch?

Yes, it did. In 2018, 60% of California voters supported Proposition 7, which would give lawmakers the power to end the switching of the clocks.

But Proposition 7 wasn’t enough on its own. Lawmakers still had to decide whether to adopt daylight saving time permanently, or whether to stay on standard time all year. Time ran out in the legislative session to decide what to do, so that’s why California is still observing the time change.

Switching over to year-round daylight saving time requires congressional approval. A bill introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate called the Sunshine Protection Act would make daylight saving time permanent.

The two states that have done away with the time change — Arizona and Hawaii — are on permanent standard time. A multitude of states is looking at switching to daylight saving time permanently.

This story was originally published November 2, 2021 at 12:52 PM with the headline "Why does California still use daylight saving time? Here’s what to know as clocks switch."