‘Spring forward’ this weekend: What to know about daylight saving time

This weekend, we will “spring forward,” so to speak, as daylight saving time begins this Sunday. Preferences for “springing forward” vs. “falling back” vary from person to person, but the practice of varying time during the year is a concept that has been around for more than 100 years.

These days, with the world more industrialized and connected, folks may wonder what the purpose is for this strange practice.

What’s up with daylight saving?

First, the practice is often erroneously referred to as “daylight savings time” but the official term is singular: daylight saving. The practice began during World War I to conserve fuel used in lanterns and to increase the work day for farmers.

However, it did not become the law of the land until the passage of the Uniform Time Act of 1966.

The exact dates to change times — now the second Sunday in March and the first Sunday in November — have changed some over the years, much like the attitudes toward the practice. And some states do not observe daylight saving at all.

Hawaii and most of Arizona don’t observe daylight saving time, having opted out of the Uniform Time Act of 1966. In Arizona, where the temperature can routinely top 110 degrees, it’s a matter of retaining earlier sunsets and cooler evening temperatures.

But the decision not to participate in the time adjustment isn’t absolute in Arizona. Daylight saving time is observed on the Navajo Reservation, surrounding the Hopi Reservation, which doesn’t observe daylight saving.

Because Hawaii is far south of mainland states, with a latitude similar to Mexico City’s, lawmakers there haven’t seen the need to increase the hours of daylight. The U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands also don’t observe daylight saving time.

Can we opt out of the practice?

Most people you ask here in Alabama would say they would like to see us on DST all year long, with longer days and more daylight. But that’s not an easy option.

States can opt out of observing daylight saving time. But they do not have the option of staying on it year round. Congress would have to pass a new federal law before any state legislation calling for that could go into effect.

Several senators and house members have tried to introduced legislation to allow states to stay on DST year round, but those bills have not gained any traction in Washington.

So for now, we have to be satisfied with the eight months of the year we observe DST.

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