US sets back clock for possible final daylight saving time amid pending legislation

Misty Severi

November 06, 12:36 AM November 06, 12:36 AM

U.S. citizens will set back their clocks on Sunday for what could be the final time, as legislation permanently ending daylight saving nears potential passage in Congress.

The Senate unanimously passed a bill that would end daylight savings time earlier this year, but the legislation still needs to pass the House before it can be signed by President Joe Biden. If passed, it would not go into effect until 2023, giving citizens a chance to adjust.

ENDING DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME WOULD REDUCE ROADKILL

"We don't have to keep doing this stupidity anymore. Why we would enshrine this in our laws and keep it for so long is beyond me," Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said when introducing the bill in the Senate back in May. "Hopefully, this is the year that this gets done. And pardon the pun, but this is an idea whose time has come.”

Benjamin Franklin was an early supporter of the concept of daylight saving time as a means to save energy. Daylight saving was first introduced in the United States in 1918 as an energy saving measure during World War I, and another adjustment to clocks known as "war time" was implemented from 1942-1945 during World War II. The practice became standard in 1966, with brief adjustments in the 1970s.

Congress has previously passed legislation that would end the time change in the 1970s, but it was repealed after reports that darker winter mornings had led to more car accidents. The concern over car accidents and darker mornings in Northern states is still prevalent in the House. If passed, some cities like Indianapolis would not see sunrise until 9 a.m. in the winter, according to the Washington Post.

States and U.S. territories like Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and most of Arizona already do not observe daylight saving time. Nineteen other states have passed laws or resolutions to end the practice if passed by Congress.

The 2022 Daylight saving time will end at 2 a.m. on the East Coast, with the spring forward beginning in March. Nearly two-thirds of Americans want to end the biannual clock changes, according to an Economist/YouGov poll.

Florida metropolis votes down resolution to remove Accomplice statues

Luke Gentile

June 15, 06:00 PM June 15, 06:00 PM

The Jacksonville, Florida, Metropolis Council voted 13-6 Tuesday to defeat a resolution that would have viewed the town get rid of all of its Confederate monuments.

At least $500,000 would have been allocated to clear away such controversial statues as the Daughters of the Confederacy monument and a pillar commemorating Confederate soldiers.

Roughly 88 people signed up to make public responses during the council conference, according to a report.

CALIFORNIA ANIMAL SHELTER BANS PET ADOPTIONS FOR GUN Legal rights SUPPORTERS

Whilst proponents of the measure argued the monuments are representative of racism, opponents argued they are portion of the city's background and should be preserved.

The latter gained out, and no discussion of the evaluate took spot right before it was voted down, in accordance to a report.

"I stand for the preservation of Jacksonville’s record in all its totality without the slightest omission," 1 speaker reported. "You should let us obtain another way to boost and foster unity and therapeutic devoid of using absent the statues."

An additional speaker argued that removing the statues would be an endeavor of very little well worth. "How is destroying statues bettering the lives of any Us citizens?" she reported. "Use my tax money to combat evil by producing our faculties as safe as any governing administration making. You are elected into business office to stand for us, not defer expenses."

Opponents of the monuments promised to keep fighting.

"We're not going to end combating. We are not going to cease coming out below," Monique Sampson of the Jacksonville Group Action Committee mentioned.

"We are not going to quit putting the pressure on [City Council] to do what is appropriate and be on the appropriate facet of historical past," she added.