Commentary: Permanent Daylight Saving Time Is Bad for Rural – and All – Americans

A Montana newspaper editor argues against the House-passed Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, contending it would harm rural Americans despite the popular myth that farmers invented DST in the first place. Historian David Prerau and Congressman Dan Newhouse are cited noting farmers have long opposed the clock changes, not championed them.

The piece cites Stanford research suggesting permanent standard time, not permanent DST, would better serve circadian health, and a CNN analysis finding sunrise in parts of Montana could arrive after 9:30 a.m. under permanent DST. It also invokes the 1973-74 experiment with permanent DST, during which several children were killed in traffic accidents on dark winter mornings, prompting Florida and other states to reverse course within weeks.

The author, editor of Montana's Glasgow Courier, concludes that morning light matters more to farmers, children, and public health than an extra hour of evening sun, a case buttressed by sleep researchers and a since-abandoned Nixon-era experiment.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.