There’s a move afoot to throw out Daylight Saving Time, and with it the annoying reminders every Spring and Fall to change our clocks ahead or back by one hour. A bill by State Assemblyman Kansen Chu (D – San José), which would place on the ballot whether or not to keep Daylight Saving Time (DST) as it currently exists – or switch to year round Standard Time, passed the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee by a vote of 9-2. AB 385 now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
“This bill, if passed by the voters of California will send a strong, strong message to Washington, D.C. to let us reconsider this uniform time map,” Chu told Doug McIntyre and Terri-Rae Elmer.
In 1949, California voters approved Prop 12, which adopted DST in the spring and summer months. Back then, Daylight Saving Time was seen as a way to save fuel as people would need to use less energy in the evening since it would get darker later during the summer months. But Chu says that in the mo
dern world, the fuel and electricity savings of the time switch are insignificant.
There are several public health issues that arise out of DST. For example, the number of recorded heart attacks, industrial and workplace injuries, and traffic accidents and fatalities also increase in the days following the time switch.
“Daylight Saving Time is an institution that has been in place largely without question for more than half a century,” Chu argued in a statement posted on his website. “I think we owe it to the general public to be given the opportunity to decide for themselves whether or not it ought to be continued.”
Chu was a guest on 790 KABC’s McIntyre in the Morning Show with Doug McIntyre and Terri-Rae Elmer.
By Sandy Wells
KABC News
