A lawmaker from central Pennsylvania is floating the idea of ending daylight saving time.
State Rep. Russ Diamond, a Republican from Lebanon County, circulated a memo seeking support from fellow lawmakers to end the practice that originated with efforts to conserve coal in Germany during World War I.
“In the near future I will be introducing legislation to permanently place Pennsylvania on Eastern Standard Time and end the outdated ritual of ‘springing forward and falling back,'” Diamond wrote.
While Pennsylvania participates in daylight saving time, Arizona and Hawaii are the only states that do not. In addition, several U.S. territories do not observe the time change.
A number of pieces of legislation to end daylight savings have been proposed over the years in other states. They have also been proposed at the federal level.
Over the years, critics have said daylight saving time does not lead to major energy savings and can even lead to people using more power.
“In fact, there are more negative side effects from changing clocks than benefits. Studies have shown that automobile accidents, workplace injuries, heart attacks, strokes, cluster headaches, miscarriages, depression, and suicides all increase in the weeks following clock changes. These government-mandated interruptions of natural biological rhythms and sleep cycles can wreak havoc on job performance, academic results, and overall physical/mental health. Clock changes require farmers to make needless adjustments, as crops and animals live by the sunlight,” Diamond wrote in his memo.
Diamond also noted a 2008 study that shows changing the clocks has a roughly $1.7 billion impact on the economy.
With daylight saving time arriving Sunday, the National Sleep Foundation (that is a real thing) recommends that the time change can be used to reset sleep habits.
