US

Trump Weighs In On Daylight Saving Time

(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

Saagar Enjeti White House Correspondent
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President Donald Trump endorsed a growing movement to make time permanent and disregard daylight saving time, in a Monday morning tweet.

Trump’s comment comes after clocks moved an hour forward Sunday. Making time permanent in the continental U.S. is a growing movement that caught steam in Florida last year when then-Gov. Rick Scott signed the “Sunshine Protection Act” into law, which would negate the moving of clocks one hour between the months of March and November (summertime).

Coal Power Plant. Shutterstock

Twilight and a coal power plant. [Shutterstock]

The law was a symbolic gesture, which is not allowed to take effect until the federal government sponsors similar legislation at the national level.
ESTERO, FL - OCTOBER 31: President Donald Trump greets Florida Governor and Republican senate candidate Rick Scott as he is introduced during a campaign rally at the Hertz Arena on October 31, 2018 in Estero, Florida. President Trump continues travelling across America to help get the vote out for Republican candidates running for office. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

ESTERO, FL – OCTOBER 31: President Donald Trump greets Florida Governor and Republican senate candidate Rick Scott as he is introduced during a campaign rally at the Hertz Arena on October 31, 2018 in Estero, Florida. President Trump continues travelling across America to help get the vote out for Republican candidates running for office. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Scott, now a senator, later co-sponsored national legislation to this effect in the U.S. Senate with fellow Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, noting in a press release, “the bill would simply negate the need for Americans to change their clocks twice a year. Many studies have shown that making DST permanent could benefit the economy and the country.”

Scott and Rubio listed the benefits of making daylight saving time permanent, including:

  • Reduces car crashes and car accidents involving pedestrians
  • Reduces risk for cardiac issues, stroke and seasonal depression.
  • Reduces the number of robberies by 27 percent
  • Reduces childhood obesity and increases physical fitness
  • Benefits the agricultural economy
  • Reduces energy usage