Opinion

Welcome to daylight saving time

An editorial from the Williamson Daily News

WILLIAMSON, W.Va. — In the words of no one — ever: It sure is nice that it’s dark by 5 p.m.

Welcome to daylight saving time, that annual event that had much of this nation and many European countries turning back the clocks an hour this weekend.

While it was a nice break for those who wanted an extra hour to sleep in Sunday morning, that’s where any real benefits end. Despite that, and the risks created by altering the natural circadian rhythms of the body, this unpopular tradition continues still.

Daylight saving time has its beginnings in Europe in 1916 as a way to save electricity during wartime. It made the morning lighter although it plunged people into nighttime darkness earlier in the late fall and winter. The United States joined the movement in 1918, but it proved so unpopular that a year later it stopped being a national requirement although some states and larger cities continued the practice. It became a short-lived national mandate again during World War II.

What followed until the mid-1960s was a confusing adaptation of rules that allowed local governments to set their own rules…

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