Daylight Saving Time 2019: What Day and When Does the Time Change?

Before you go to bed after watching Saturday Night Live this weekend, make sure you change your clocks. Daylight saving time ends on Sunday, Nov. 3 at 2 a.m., at which point all clocks need to go back an hour. This will give you an extra hour of sleep Saturday night into Sunday, but it also means the night gets darker earlier.

There are some exceptions. Most of Arizona, save the Navajo Nation, and all of Hawaii do not observe daylight saving time (DST). The U.S. territories American Samoa, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands also do not observe daylight saving time.

The U.S. began observing daylight saving time as a way to conserve energy during World War I. At that time, it was only one during the summer, so farmers did not have to start working in darkness. As Vox points out, it was abandoned after the war, but was picked up again in World War II to save fuel again. In 1966, the federal government said all states had to follow daylight saving time during the summer months, unless an entire state opted out of it.

DST has become a controversial subject lately, whenever the topic comes up, since there is little evidence to support that it saves electricity use. Recent studies on the subject have found very little energy impact from it and it could actually increase air conditioning and heating use.

However, DST does have its benefits, and there could even be an argument to keeping it around all year. Those who work 9-to-5 get to see a little more sunlight at the end of the day. Children are less likely to come home from school in the dark. Some manufacturers have even argued that it leads to a raise in sales because people are more likely to take part in leisure activities with more daylight.

With rising interest in making DST a year-round thing, a handful of states have already considered making that happen. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Nevada, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington have all passed legislation to make DST permanent. However, the states need approval from the federal government to make the change, notes USA Today.

Legislators in Alaska, California, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas, Utah and Vermont have introduced acts to change time. The Texas bill would drop DST completely. California voters approved dropping DST in a 2018 midterm election vote.

The New England states are considering joining the Atlantic Standard Time zone, an hour ahead of Eastern Time Zone. This would be one way to get around needing Congressional approval to observe DST year-round.

Notably, President Donald Trump said he supports making DST permanent.

“Making Daylight Saving Time permanent is O.K. with me,” the president tweeted on March 11.

DST returns on Sunday, March 8, 2020, when you lose that hour of sleep we gained this weekend.

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