Daylight Saving Time ended November 3, but some want to end it forever

When Daylight Saving Time ended Nov. 3, most of America’s clocks fell back an hour, causing earlier sunsets and plenty of frustration among Ohio residents.

Some took their frustration a step further, signing a petition on MoveOn.org urging Ohio’s state government to abolish the practice. The petition, created by Barak Ben-Tor, gathered 448 signatures by December 12. Ben-Tor wrote in the description that Daylight Saving is wrong, because “we are so far west in the Eastern Time Zone, we have plenty of daylight without having to move our clocks forward every March.” He also cited disruption to people’s medication schedule and energy costs as reasons he’d like to see Daylight Saving abolished.

Ohioans who signed the petition — many on and shortly after Nov. 3 — gave a variety of reasons for their support. Ryan Rausch from Columbus wrote the time change “causes depression in a lot of people including children.” Kevin Dorgan from Williamsport wrote that the earlier sunsets affect people’s productivity.

This isn’t the first time Ohioans have tried to eliminate Daylight Saving Time. According to the State of Ohio’s digital archives, a bill was introduced to the State House in 2012 seeking to exempt Ohio from Daylight Saving Time.

The bill was introduced by then-Representatives John Adams, Courtney Combs, Rex Damschroder and Timothy Derickson. It required that the state “shall not advance the standard time by one hour as therein prescribed, and otherwise shall not participate in the seasonal time change commonly referred to as daylight savings time.”

The bill was sent to committee, where it died.

Even though the time change has remained in Ohio, some other parts of the U.S. have gotten rid of it. Hawaii doesn’t observe Daylight Saving because it lies so close to the equator that the sun rises and sets at similar times year-round, according to TIME Magazine. Also, Arizona stopped changing their clocks in 1968 to limit smoldering-hot temperatures during waking hours and to reduce their energy usage.

BBC reported in August that the European Union is supporting a permanent end to the practice as well, after a survey found the majority of Europeans were opposed to it.

Researchers have found evidence that the time change can be harmful. A study in the May 2017 issue of the journal Epidemiology found that “the transition from summer time to standard time were associated with an 11%increase… in the incidence rate of unipolar depressive episodes that dissipated over approximately 10 weeks.” The study — conducted by Bertel T. Hansen, Kim M.Sønderskov, Ida Hageman, Peter T. Dinesen and Søren D. Østergaard – did not find any increase in depression during the transition from standard time to summer time in March.